Ice and Fire collide
by FrozenScarlet
Summary: Kaori Hikari is ready to shine and reach her goal to become captain. But, there's only one thing that's resisting her, and that's her captain, Toshiro. Will she be able to reach her goal but still love her best friend at the same time? A Hitsu x OC
1. The meeting

Today was my first day as 3rd seat to a squad. My heart was racing. Though I, Hikari Kaori, was hoping to be lieutenant. But, I guess I have to deal with it until I train harder to win that goal. My Sensei had given me a scroll after I graduated at the top of my class. It said that because of my skills, I was assigned a squad at once. Back then, I was so excited, but now, when I look at the scroll closer, I had forgotten that there was more text at the bottom of the scroll. I was assigned to a squad I had prayed to never get. Squad 10. SQUAD TEN OF ALL SQUADS! Don't get me wrong, the lieutenant of the squad knew me really well….but so did the Captain of the squad. Toshiro Hitsugaya was a long time friend of mind. When we first met, everyone thought that I was going to die because I hung out with him. I ignored their arrogance and continued talking and playing with him. Soon, we began to form a friendship that was just too hard to break. But then, he went on to join the Soul Academy. I, on the other hand, didn't want to go with him at first. I laughed when I heard he was going to be captain. Then, it turned into a fight. He was skilled with the sword by then, but I had done my own training, too. His strength proved captain perfect. At the end, he had one with a small sweat on his forehead. Our friendship was now a thin string that was on a verge of breaking.

I stood in front of the squad ten administration doors. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There was silence for a few seconds. Then, I heard a glass break.

"MATSUMOTO!"

"Eh! Don't blame me, taicho! It was the sake's fault!"

I knew who the voices were immediately. I giggled at Rangiku's mistake and Toshiro's scolding voice. Then, the door suddenly opened. I went on my knees to show respect.

"Who are you?" Toshiro's voice rang in my ears. I kept my head down for a little longer.

"You do not remember me so soon, Shiro?" I said. I felt a slight tension between us.

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho…Hikari Kaori." Toshiro said and told me to rise. I did so and made a big smile.

"Aw, you're being way too strict on your best buddy!" I said in a childish form. Then, Rangiku came behind Toshiro.

"Taicho, you two know each other?" She said pointing to me.

"Sadly, yes." He replied. Rangiku ran passed Toshiro and hugged me with delight.

"Well, whatever! It's good to see you again, Hikari-chan!" She said.

"It's….g-great….seeing….you….t-too…..Air…." I said in between breathes. Rangiku let go. I came inside the room. It was small, but roomy. There were book shelves in the room and a desk in the middle. There were also two sofas. Toshiro went to his desk and took out a folder.

"It's great you two already know each other." He said. "Now let's get to business." Toshiro handed me a folder. I sat down on the sofa and took it out.

"Today is your first day as 3rd seat of Squad Ten. There is no time for goofing off." Toshiro said. "And, Kaori, you will call me from this day forward Hitsugaya-taicho."

I looked down at the papers and nodded slowly.

"For now, that is." I said and turned around and looked at his gaze. His emerald eyes haven't changed a bit. "When I become Captain, I will no longer call you Hitsugaya-taicho, but Shiro-taicho." Toshiro sighed.

"Say whatever you want." And with that, he continued on with his paper work.

"Workaholic…." I said under my breath. Rangiku giggled at the statement and exclaimed that she wanted to show me around. I nodded, dropped the folder on the sofa, and walked out with Rangiku.


	2. Getting used to things

As Rangiku and I were strolling through the soul society, I notice someone very familiar.

"Hinamori-chan!" I yelled. The girl turned around and when she saw me, her eyes grew wide.

"Kaori-chan, I didn't know you were…." She stopped in her sentence after I glomped on her.

"Hinamori, it's wonderful to finally see you after all these years!" I said. Hinamori laughed and we both got up. We both talked a little bit longer then said goodbye and left. As Rangiku explained everything about the area, my gaze was staring at the area we passed. I never thought that the Soul Society looked so grand and elegant. I see no reason why adults back in the Rukongai district where so afraid of shinigami. I shook the thought away, scared about why they think that way. After Rangiku had showed me the area, we returned to the squad ten building where Toshiro was still sitting in his desk, quietly doing paper work.

"Matsumoto, did you show Kaori where she will be sleeping?" Toshiro asked. There was an awkward silence and Rangiku snapped her fingers.

"I knew I forgot something! Thank you, taicho. Hikari let me show you where you will be staying." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me out the room. We then arrived at the Squad ten barracks.

"Seems like you forgot something so small, huh?" I asked as we approached the barracks.

"Oh, by quiet." She said quickly and once we entered, she turned right on the hallway and after more walking through the hallway, we reached a door at the end of the hallway.

"This will be your room, Hikari." She said as she opened the door. We stepped inside and I took a look around. The room was normal sized bedroom to me. There was a small bed, a table, a cushion, and two other doors, one if the bathroom and the other is the closet. I didn't really have anything personal with me at the moment, so we didn't spend much time in the barracks. So, we left the building and we back the administration room again. Toshiro had stacks of paper on his desk, but he wasn't sitting on his chair.

"Kaori, Matsumoto, begin doing the paper work." Toshiro said in a stern voice. I moaned.

"Aw….but it's my first day….can't I-"

"No. Don't even think about it." He said, as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"Dang it. Now I have to find a way to get rid of all this paper work." I thought. Matsumoto yawned and lied down on the sofa.

"What are you doing, Rangiku?" I asked.

"Hm? Oh, don't worry, I'm just going to take a nap. I'll finish those soon after I finish my nap. Would you like to join me?"

"Well...a nap does sound relaxing….ok, sure." So, I lied down on the other sofa, closed my eyes, and soon, I was fast asleep.

XxXxX

I suddenly woke up by a hard slap across my face.

"What the crap?" I mumbled as I slowly arose from the sofa. Toshiro was walking away, but I noticed he had a notebook in his hand. I twitched with anger.\

"DUDE! WHAT THE CRAP?! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SLAP ME WITH A BOOK!" I yelled.

"I had to. That was the only way I could get you to wake up. C'mon, you still have to finish the papers."

I rubbed my head in disdain.

"Why can't you do them? You did the last stack. Why should Rangiku and I do the work?"

"Because I commanded it." He said this while looking at some folders. I sighed and walked to where Rangiku was.

"Oi, Rangiku-san, wake up." I said, shaking her slowly. I saw her eyes flicker open.

"Ugh….huh? Taicho? Is that you?"

I smiled a little.

"Yes, yes it is." I said, bringing my voice to match Toshiro's.

"Oh, taicho…ugh…When did you have long, black ha-" Then, Rangiku's eyes burst open. "Hikari!"

I dropped to the floor, laughing.

"Hahahaha! You should have seen your face, Rangiku-san! It was pure art! Hahaha!" Rangiku got up, and sighed.

"You were always such a trouble-maker." She said. I stopped laughing, but I was still smiling. Then, the doors flew open. A young Shinigami came inside and he seemed to be in a rush.

"Hitsugaya-taicho, we have been informed that a group of hollows has been seen around Rukongai district 3! We have gotten orders to eliminate them at once. Do you have anyone that you would want to send out for this mission, sir?"

Toshiro thought for a minute then looked up at the boy.

"Yes, I have some people from my squad that will be perfect for this mission." He started. Then, his gaze set upon me. "Kaori Hikari will go on this mission by herself."

The boy's eyes grew wide with shock.

"But….But sir, this mission should require two people on this mission. One person alone can't win against so many hollows except for a lieutenant and a Captain like you and Matsumoto-san. B-But this 3rd seat newbie can't survive"

I made a fist and tackled the boy with fire in my eyes.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT I CAN'T SURVIVE A SIMPLE MISSION LIKE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING? I WILL SURVIVE, AND I WILL PROVE IT TO YOU!!" I picked him up and threw him to the other side of the room. From behind me, I could sense that Toshiro was smirking and Rangiku smiling, but shaking her head.

"Kaori, you heard the mission. This will be your first mission, so don't you dare fail this mission." Toshiro said and continued to read the files. Rangiku gave me a thumbs-up.

"Good luck!"

I nodded, turned around, and walked out of the room, ready for whatever waits behind the doors of the Soul Society.


	3. The mission

I felt anger surge through my body.

"That little….son of a…..ugh!" I thought. Then, in my mind, a young woman with fire as her hair and strips like a tiger around her legs and arms appeared. Her arms were crossed. Her long, red dress fluttered around.

"Hikari, control your anger." She said slowly, but with a stern tone.

"YasuSuzume, you heard what happened! That little boy called me weak!"

"I heard not the word 'weak' in the conversation."

"Well…he had the type of tone that screamed 'You're weak' and stuff like that!"

"It doesn't matter now. You have a mission, or should I say your 'first mission' this time."

"Mm….well, whatever. Let's make this quick so I can kick that little boys butt again."

"Hm...Sounds to me like you're talking about Toshiro, hm?" I felt my face get warm.

"N-no, not him. I was talking about the other shinigami….oh, forget it." YasuSuzume giggled and disappeared from my mind for the moment.

When I arrived at the district, there was no one around. It was deserted. I walked through the town and I only heard some wind chimes hit against each other as the wind speed increased. My hair was getting into my eyes, so I made a quick bun and locked it with a hand-crafted senbon. The senbon was only to be used as a last resort, but I never knew why. Though, I obeyed the rule and I haven't used it at all.

Then, I heard a scream that was so loud and horrific, I thought someone was about to die….ABOUT TO DIE?! I ran towards the sound and there, I saw a dead man and a woman holding a broom in front of her. She was defending herself from a gang of hollows. I took my sword out of its sheath and attacked the first hollow.

"Get out of here, lady!" I yelled. The lady was shivering, but she dropped the broom and ran. When I knew she was gone, I turned my attention the hollows. I estimated there were 19 of them. I gripped tightened on the hilt. Then, the hollows made a circle around me and attacked me at the same time.

"Let Them Burn, YasuSuzume!" My sword turn red and a chain formed from under the hilt. I smirked and made a 180 degree circle flames formed on where I pointed my sword. Now, I was surrounded by a circle of flames. 9 hollows were burned and they had dissolved. There were only 10 left….easy. The fire dissolved through the air and I ran towards the next hollow I could find. I took that one out and I continued to attack all the hollows until they were out of sight…forever.

I put my sword back into my sheath and walked back to the Seireitei.

"Good Job, Hikari-chan!" Rangiku said and patted me on the shoulder. I smiled.

"It was no sweat." I said and Rangiku and I laughed. Then, I looked around for Toshiro.

"Hey, where's taicho?" I asked.

"Oh, he went to get some fresh air."

"Wow, I didn't think he would take walks….meh, oh well."

"How about we celebrate your first mission success with…" Then, Rangiku grabbed two bottles of sake. "SAKE!"

I made a cross across my chest.

"No frickin way! I'm way too young for that! I'm only 99 years old!"

Then, Rangiku's eyes turned calm.

"Hm…then that means you're one year younger then Taicho."

I blushed.

"Y-Yeah, and?"

Rangiku snickered.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just allow me to ponder about my thoughts for a while longer. And while I'm doing this, why don't you find…your 'best friend'"

My blush turned 10 shades of red when Rangiku had emphasized the words "best friend" in an awkward manner. I stayed quiet, but I ran out the door, leaving Rangiku to laugh happily.


	4. A Mission finished, a new one rises

As I ran through the hallway, my face began to cool down.

"Dang it you, Rangiku." I thought in my mind as I continued my run. Then, I ran into someone.

"Ah, gomen. I didn't" I looked up. Toshiro was staring outside. I quickly got up.

"Taicho! My deepest apologies!" I said and bowed.

"You were always a clumsy idiot, Kaori." He said, not even looking at my direction. I straightened up and crossed my hands.

"Well, excuse me for being an idiot." I said in a sassy voice. Toshiro sighed and continued to stare out the window. I stood beside him and stared out into space with him.

"Taicho…can I ask you something?" Toshiro looked at me and I looked at him. Toshiro nodded.

"…We've known each other for many years, but I want to ask you something…why did you join the Gotei 13?"

Toshiro looked out the window for a long time, pondering.

"Taicho, if it's Hinamori-san"

"It's not…" He started, and then he sighed. "Let me put it this way, I'm only here to protect her."

I nodded understandingly. I always knew Toshiro was protective over Hinamori Momo.

I patted his head and shook it lightly.

"And I thought you hated the thought of becoming a shinigami." I said with a light smile. He had anger marks around him.

"Kaori!" I lifted my hand quickly and darted away, laughing.

The next day, I woke up from a loud banging noise.

"Hikari, wake up! Taicho wants us to see him in his office!" I heard Rangiku yell. I rubbed my eyes, then my temples.

"She yells so loud…so early in the morning, too." I thought and opened the door. Rangiku was already leaving the barracks.

"HEY! WAIT UP, RANGIKU!" I yelled and ran after her.

When we had arrived at the office, there were stacks of papers on his desk

"Matsumoto, Kaori, here is your usual paper work." He said. I put my hands on my hips.

"Why do we have to do that much work, Taicho?" I asked. His eyes locked onto mind. He didn't say anything, but suddenly, I felt an icy chill run down my spine. I stood up straight and shook my head.

"Um…never mind what I said." I mumbled. He stopped looking at me and walked passed me and Rangiku.

"When I come back, I expect those papers done." He said sternly and walked out of the room. When I knew he was gone, I sat on the sofa and rubbed my arms.

"What the heck was that?" I thought. "That chill….and he only stared into my eyes…it was like he was reading my mind and freezing it. I-I never felt such reiatsu…" I shivered and walked to the desk. Huge stacks of paper were stacked high to the sky, in my point of view.

"Well, we better get to work…" I said slowly and began signing the papers. For once, the room was awkwardly silent. Then, Rangiku stopped writing.

"Hikari, a few minutes ago, you were shivering and I felt your reiatsu fall. Is there something wrong?"

"N-No…it's nothing…"

"You can tell me, Hikari."

I stopped, and looked up and Rangiku.

"I…never felt such powerful reiatsu then my own."

Rangiku sighed and shook her head.

"You and Taicho have the same amount of reiatsu, so what's wrong?"

"What's wrong is….is…that his reiatsu…I don't know….it just feels as if his reiatsu is freezing my reiatsu!"

"I think your just thinking that. Besides, there is no such thing as 'freezing reiatsu' just by staring. That's insane."

I looked down at the paper.

"But the feeling…Was something I have never felt before…" I thought. "His reiatsu…no, his zanpakuto…it was like it was calling YasuSuzume…to fight him…."

An hour had past and we were finally finished.

"Yes! I'm done!" Rangiku exclaimed happily. I sighed and rubbed my fingers.

"My fingers are cramping!" I said. Rangiku laughed and I couldn't help but laugh with her. Then, I heard a crash from outside. Rangiku and I ran outside and saw a large ball ram into the Seireitei shield.

"Whoever those fools are, there's no way they can survive." I thought. But, my prediction was wrong. The ball entered the Seireitei but smashed, bursting out 4 groups out of the ball, each in different direction. I gritted my teeth.

"Those idiots…" I thought. "Whoever they are, they are going to die."

Author's note:

Hi guys! This is Katonge2. Ok, this is the end of chapter 4: A Mission is finished, a new one arises.

Thank you all for reading my story! I never knew you all would like it so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Please, message me if you have any suggestions to my story. That would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a little info about Kaori Hikari:

Age- 99

Height- 5 ft (yeah, it's pretty tall for a "9 year old" but…still. THIS IS MY FANFICTION! XD)

Hair color- black (but forms red stripes when she goes into bankai)

Name meaning- Yasu meaning calm. Suzume meaning sparrow (now, some of u might be wondering…why the heck does the zanpakuto look like a real life human and that she has stripes like a tiger? Well…I'm used to making OC's having a tiger as their zanpakuto. So, I put a little bit of my style of zanpakuto in this story.)

Eye color- black

Personal history- Kaori Hikari was born in Rukongai, district one. Her family history is unknown, but it is rumored that her living family had a mastery of kendo. This rumor could be true for Kaori Hikari became a natural when it came to fighting with her sword. She died in Karakura town when she was only (in living years) 3 years old. Another rumor is said that she was killed when her family was ambushed. Kaori Hikari was still sleeping in her bed during this time, and was stabbed before she could wake up.

Personal life- When Kaori Hikari woke up after she had died, she had no idea where she was. She wandered around and suddenly, a kid with a wooden sword tried to attack her. Hikari spun around and grabbed the sword with her hand and twisted the sword, forcing the kid to let go of the sword. The kid became frighten and ran away. Everyone around the child glared at Hikari and shunned her. Days pasted and then, she finally met Hinamori Momo and Hitsugaya Toshiro. The 3 of them soon became friends, especially Hikari and Toshiro.

When Toshiro had exclaimed that he would become a shinigami, Kaori was angry that Toshiro was already becoming a shinigami. So, Hikari, right after she learned Toshiro became part of the Gotei 13, went into the academy. The rest, from what Hikari has said, is history.

Anything extra about Kaori Hikari- Kaori Hikari is a normally calm shinigami. When she is in a battle, she thinks tactics and what's best for her squad. The downside is that she is stubborn and hard-headed. She is also lazy.

Kaori Hikari remarks that her past was hard, mostly during her days during the academy. But after she reunited with her best friend, she knew she was going to be safe once more, just as she felt when she was in Rukongai.


	5. Love Sparks!

Everyone was watching the whole event. I shook my head.

"I'm not going to bother with them." I said. "They're going to die, and if not, they might as well regret coming here."

"Do you know these people?" Rangiku asked.

"Well….their reiatsu…I think I recognize one of them…but I don't know where…Meh, no matter."

I decided to go and check out something, so I parted ways with Rangiku and walked into the administration room again. There, I searched in Toshiro's captain file cabinet. Inside, there were different files of every squad member in Squad ten. Then, I found my file, took it out, and opened it.

Inside was normal crap, like my age, my zanpakuto, when I graduated from the academy, my ability in kido and hand to hand combat, etc. Then, there, in the bottom of the page was something interesting.

"Personal History and Life, huh?" I thought. But when I looked under it, the whole section was blank. I raised an eyebrow.

"Why is my history and life blank?" I thought with curiosity. Then, I felt a hand touch my shoulder.

"And you are here in my cabinets…because….?" I turned my head slowly and saw Toshiro glaring at me. His emerald eyes seemed to stare into my dark, black eyes.

"Well…erm…I was going…to check something…" I said. I could tell his eyes were staring right at me. I sighed.

"Ok, I just wanted to check out my file is all." I said and returned the file back into his cabinet neatly and turned around to face him. I could feel my face get warm.

"Wooow…I never knew Toshiro had such hot emerald eyes before…" I thought. Then, Toshiro used a book and slapped me in the face.

"Ow! What the heck?!" I yelled.

"You're so noisy and day dream too much." He said bluntly and walked away. As he left, I stared at the direction at where he was walking.

"W-What am I feeling…? My face is getting warm…a-and…so many thoughts about Toshiro are going on….WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" I thought and fell to my knees, rubbing my temples. After a few minutes of clearing my thoughts, I got up, and found Toshiro doing his paper work.

"Taicho, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Paper work that you and Matsumoto should be doing." He said while writing. I formed an anime sweat drop.

"Yeah…well, whatever." I began to walk towards the door.

"Kaori, what are your true intentions?" He asked before I could put my hand on the door handle. I froze. My intentions? Why would he want to know? Well, if he wants to know…

"My intention…" I turned around to face him. "Is to become a Captain and no longer be a burden to my friends…and…" I looked down and shook my head. "N-Never mind about what I was about to say."

Then, I turned to door handle and walked out of the door. I noticed that Squad eleven was sent to take care of the intruders. As I watched the squad members get orders from other of their squad members, I noticed Rangiku coming towards me.

"Did I miss something here?" I asked.

"Oh, well, General Yamamoto-sama had asked Squad eleven to take care of the intruders. Besides, tomorrow, I have a lieutenants meeting and Taicho has a Captain's meeting."

"Ok…but what I really was asking is…do you know why those intruders are even here?"

Rangiku looked up into space.

"I'm guessing that they're trying to save Kuchiki Rukia." She mumbled. I nodded.

"But I wonder why? It's not like they know her."

"That's pretty logical, Hikari, but who knows." Rangiku then patted my shoulder.

"You're a smart kid; you should be able to figure it out." She said with a smile and walked away. I looked at my hands.

"Smart, huh?" I thought. "That reminds me of that day…when a friend told me that…and got her killed."

To be continued…

Author's note:

Yea, I put the "To be continued" thing there just to make some suspense! LOL! By now, you might have noticed that some of the events are mixed up. Remember, I'm not a newb, I've read and watched this arc (soul society and rescuing Rukia arc), it's just that I get my events mixed up and I don't want to watched the arcs all over again. That's a pain in the butt. Anyhow, please R&R (rate and review), PLEASE! Thank you all!


	6. Darkness and Despair haunt me

Author's note: Yeah, I'm changing where I put my author's note. Sorry! Well, this is chapter 6 of my story! Woo! Thank you black ennui and Manaxsavior for all the reviews you've given me about my story so far! I also want to thank Sorii, FireWingedWolf, black ennui (again), Manaxsavior (again), and Fallen Angel 2115 for loving my story. I thank those users! But I also thank you, too, for reading my story. You might not like it, but I am still grateful that you are still reading it. Please, review my story. I am open to many suggestions from some of you pro fanfic authors! I am not a newb, if that's what you're thinking, cause I have written plenty of fanfictions the last two years, so I am not a newb, nor am I a pro. Anyways, please enjoy Chapter 6: Darkness and Despair haunt me…

I felt my mind turn dark and my thoughts turn grim. I felt my body spiral into a vortex of unwanted sadness. I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. It was late into the night, and I was still wide awake. My mind was filled with darkness…I began to ponder as my mind went all the way back when I was still in the shinigami academy…

-Flash Back!-

"Akemi-sama! What are you doing?" I yelled. Akemi Usagi was the then lieutenant of Squad 2. She made often visits to the Shinigami Academy during her free time. She had recognized my skills during sword fighting class and had been training me privately before and after my classes. I was truly honored.

I found Akemi-sama leaning on a tree outside, looking at the sky.

"Akemi-sama?" I whispered, tapping on her shoulder lightly. She had came back to reality and looked at me. She then laughed.

"Oh, Kaori-san, I didn't see you coming! Shall we begin the lesson?"

I nodded, but something in her voice made me feel uneasy. We began to practice. As we spared, her voice seemed to have sadness and she was pondering throughout the whole sparing practice. I won the practice session in 5 minutes.

"Good job, Kaori. You've gotten stronger." She commented. She smiled, but I frowned.

"Akemi-sama, what are you thinking of?" I asked. She stopped smiling and looked at me, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were pondering throughout the whole sparing session and you didn't grip your sword right! I couldn't feel your fighting spirit like before…"

Akemi-sama sighed and sat down. She looked at the sky like she had in the beginning, and looked at me, her eyes full on intensity.

"Kaori, I, as lieutenant of Squad 2, I am not to inform you of this to you, an academy student."

"What?! But why?! I can't be THAT concealed!"

She looked down.

"It's…about Chamber 46."

My eyes grew.

"What? Chamber 46? Y-You mean Chamber 46, the group of Soul Society members that give out orders to the Squads?!"

She nodded.

"….Please, Akemi-sama, it is safe to tell me. I dare not say anything about it." I said in a whisper.

She looked around carefully.

"Ok, but don't dare say a word, Kaori…Ok, let's see…I'll start from the beginning…Kuchiki Rukia has been imprisoned and is to be executed for reasons I am unaware of. Abari had told me of that. Ahem, anyways…I have done my own research about the whole thing. It seemed strange to have a shinigami that did nothing of the sort in the world of the living and die…What I found out was amazing!"

I peered closer to Akemi-sama's face, digging in every word she said.

"What did you find?"

Akemi made a smirk.

"It seems that I found a secret plan that was not needed to be known. Have you heard of Squad 5 captain Aizen-sama?"

"Yes! He is very intelligent and strong, from all the rumors I have heard! He's also a kind soul."

"Tch, don't give me 'kind soul' crap."

I leaned back, amazed at Akemi's informal talk.

"Whatever, Kaori. Anyhow, I saw Aizen's plan on Soul Society when I was delivering paper work to him."

Akemi grabbed a sheet of paper from her robe and handed it to me. I opened it up and looked through it.

"No…it can't be…he…killed…"

Akemi slapped my mouth shut.

"Don't say another word! Who knows who might be listening?"

I nodded, and she moved her hand away from my mouth. I nodded and returned the sheet to her.

"Thank you for allowing me this top secret privilege. Did you tell anyone else?"

"No, and I plan not to. Whatever happens, it's best to not say anything. Kaori, look at me, don't say a word of what has happened. Just forget this and continue on with your life. Don't say anything about what you just saw on this sheet until you have reached a Captain's rank."

I nodded.

"That's been my goal from the start, Akemi-sama!" I said with a smile. Akemi laughed and got up.

"You're a smart kid, ya know? You might be able to figure out Aizen's whole plan soon. Oh, I better return to my post. Soi Fon will murder me if I don't return back to my post in time. See ya!"

That was the last time I ever saw Akemi-sama…until…

It was the 2 weeks before the graduation exams. I was getting pumped up. I haven't seen Akemi-sama for 4 weeks since our last talk about Aizen…I shook my head.

"Akemi-sama told me to just forget about him…"

Then, I heard a knock on my dorm room. I opened it and it was a shinigami from Squad two.

"Are you Kaori Hikari?" He asked.

"Yes."

"This is from the LATE Akemi Usagi." My eyes grew wide with shock. Late? What did he mean? I snatched the paper from him and he disappeared quickly. I slammed the door shut and opened the folder. It read on the front…:

To: Kaori Hikari

From: Late Akemi Usagi

This message in the folder has not been read by other shinigami members, even Captains. This is a confidential message and is only to be read by the person that the late shinigami is assigned to. Please understand that this person is already dead.

My eyes started to form tears. Then, I brushed them away.

"Shinigami never cry or show sad emotions. For if we do…we our seen as weak." I thought and the tears just seem to vanish. I opened the folder and took out a sheet of paper. This is what it read:

"How are you, Kaori? I'm sorry I haven't been able to practice with you the past few weeks. I've been researching more and more about Aizen's plan. You wouldn't believe what I found! Ok, I have a hunch that he's looking for the hougyoku, though I don't know how he's going to find it. I know that with that orb, he's going to be unbelievably strong. I know that the hougyoku is still in its "sleeping" state. So, even if he gets his evil hands on it, he would have to wait some time until it can be awakened…

Kaori…while I was researching, I felt like someone was watching me. And what's worse…I also think that someone was watching us when we talked last time. I think he is Aizen's spy. I will get rid of him by myself. I do not know…if I will come back…alive or not…but…I at least want to let you know what my predictions are. Remember…do not tell anyone, even Captain-Commander Yamamoto. It's for the best. I also want to tell you something…if ever you see Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tousen…walk away from them. I have my guesses…but they could be the ones behind all this. So, stay away from them.

Kaori, this is the end of my letter. Please…once you get this letter, burn it. Burn it into ash and look towards the future. Watch yourself, and keep your goal in your heart forever. I beg of you…if ever you get a chance, continue on with my research…and defeat Aizen and his plots before it ever begins. I do not think I will be alive to see the results of your training, but I hope it goes to good use. Well…this is good bye…, Hikari-chan.

A Friend,

Usagi Akemi

For my best pupil,

Kaori Hikari"

I gripped the sheet of paper in my hand.

"Aizen…I will kill you…for what you have done…." Then, I found a match, lit it up, and burn the letter. As I watched the paper turn to ash, I found as if my last will of my best teacher was disappearing. Yet…she gave me everything she predicted to me! She didn't even say anything to Commander-Captain! I…must have been special to her…truly special to her…and Aizen killed her…

-End of Flashback-

I shut my eyes and then, I felt tears fall down my cheek. I did not brush them away; I let them fall like a waterfall of endless tears. I made no sound, so my waterfall was just a silent pool of sadness as the night soon came to its end, and morning was coming.


	7. Shock

Author's note- Waz up, guys? I am really glad that everyone loves my story! Thank you everyone! Ahem, anyways…

There will be one point where I'm going to make another story! Yes, I will be making another story. It will be a HitsuHina (Hitsugaya and Hinamori) story. I will tell you when I have posted it, ok? But when I do, I hope to see the same users read that story as well.

Well, enjoy the story!

Note- I sort of rushed on this story, so it might suck big time. Sry!

I DO NOT OWN THE BLEACH CONTENT USED IN MY STORY! THEY ALL BELOND TO TITE KUBO!

Chapter 7: Revenge

Days pasted and I was observing Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tousen during my free time. Matsumoto Rangiku thought I was stalking them, since I did my observing all the time. Ultimately, I would hit her with an empty sake bottle and dash away. When I heard that Aizen was "killed", I knew it was false, so while everyone thought he was dead, I examined Squad 5 office when Hinamori was in prison.

I have also heard rumors about the Rukongai intruders. One of them beat Captain Zenpachi and Abari Renji! At first, I thought it wasn't true. But when I went to Squad 4 clinic to deliver something to Captain Unohana, I saw Captain Zenpachi with lieutenant Yachiru. I was almost in shock. The intruder must be that strong to beat someone at Captain's level.

More time passed on, and I also heard about what had happened to Hinamori-chan and Toshiro. Though I knew Hinamori would never hurt or even kill Toshiro…I never knew she would do an attempt. She was strong, sure, but using that strength for the intent to kill someone who did absolutely nothing…was another thing. It must have been Aizen who written the letter to get Hinamori to kill Toshiro, but would Toshiro believe me? I heard him mumble that Ichimaru was the one that confiscated the letter and tried to make Hinamori kill him. He wasn't even at the bull's eye.

XxXxXx

It was time for Kuchiki Rukia's execution, but Toshiro wanted to check out something.

"Can I come? Pretty Please????????" I begged.

"No. You need to go to the execution grounds."

"Oh come on! All I'm going to see there is Rukia-san getting killed, and that's it. What's the point of going?"

Toshiro sighed with frustration.

"Fine, you can come. But don't be in the way, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

Rangiku decided to come with him, so after Toshiro told us his prediction about what he thought of, we were off.

We arrived at the Central 46 area. There were no guards in the area.

"Sir, isn't there usually guards around?" I asked. Rangiku nodded in agreement.

"Hikari is right, Taicho. There are usually guards around here."

Toshiro didn't say anything, and walked up to the Central 46 entrance way. It was, of course, locked. Then, Toshiro did something I never knew he was going to do. He cut through the bars in front of the Central 46 main door. Strangely, there was no alarm. I was so shocked; I said nothing as we went inside the building. Though I wasn't afraid, something in my gut made me alert. When we arrived, I fell to my knees. All of the officers were dead! Blood was shattered everywhere. I slowly got up and walked towards the middle and touched the blood. It was dry.

"If the blood is dry, then these people didn't die any time soon…" I thought. "They must have been killed a week or so. But the question is…who?"

Then, I looked up. My eyes grew big.

"Izuru Kira? What are you doing?" Rangiku asked. Kira didn't say anything and ran off. Toshiro and Rangiku and I got up to the stairs and chased after him.

"Did Kira kill Central 46? No, he must have gotten help…Aizen? Maybe Ichimaru, since he is Kira's captain…But would Kira really betray the Seireitei? Argh!!!!!!!" I thought with frustration. My mind was jumbled up with so many thoughts and questions. Then, I quickly caught up to Toshiro and ran by his side.

"Hitsugaya-taicho, it is not a good idea to chase after me." I heard Kira say.

"Cut the crap, Izuru! Did you kill the officers in Central 46?!" I yelled. Kira looked back.

"Why would I answer you, Kaori? I'm a high ranked officer and I do not have to answer your questions. Besides, don't you have someone to save?" Kira asked. I glared at him.

"Hinamori is probably in deep danger by now…" Toshiro and my eyes grew wide.

"Hina…mori? But Taicho sealed her room with kido!"

"Kaori, did you forget already? Hinamori is an extremely skilled in kido. Hitsugaya-taicho's spell may be hard for anyone to get inside, but from the inside…well, that's another story." I quickly stopped and so did Rangiku.

"Taicho, we can handle Izuru here." Rangiku said. "You go and save Hinamori!"

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Toshiro asked. Rangiku and I nodded and Toshiro quickly shinpo back to Central 46. I looked at Kira and gripped my hilt.

"Kira, what has Ichimaru done to you!" I yelled with anger. Kira stopped and turned around. He un-sheathed his sword and so did Rangiku and I.

"Sorry, Kaori. But I can't tell you something like that. But I suggest you get out of my way." Then, he ran towards me with lightning speed. I did not have time to un-sheath my sword, so he punched me in the face and I was pushed to the side like a rag doll. I stood up quickly and wiped the blood coming from the side of my mouth.

"So, if that's what you want…then I will give you a taste of my power, Kira…" I said to myself and unsheathed my sword and ran towards Rangiku and Kira, ready to attack and defend.


	8. Fight, Fight, Fight Confession!

Author's Note: Heeeey guys! Long time no…er….update! Well, it's been about a year since my last update, and I feel really bad leaving you guys hangin'! With that, I plan to work really hard and try to update daily! So, for all you fans on my story….the best news in general is……THIS STORY IS NO LONGER ON HIATUS! YAY! Now, there's gonna be one major (technically it's minor, but whatever) change: I will spell Toshiro's name "Toushiro" sometimes. Well, that's pretty much the main thing. Oh, the next chapter will give you a link to what Kaori Hikari looks like.  Sorry for the past mistakes on the previous chapters. ^_^|| Anyways, ENJOY THE CHAPTER! :D

Thus, I do not own any of the content used in the story what-so-ever! Tite Kubo owns it all. Not me.

Chapter 8: Fight, Fight, Fight….Confession?!

I took out my zanpakuto.

"Let Them Burn, YasuSuzume!" I yelled. The blade turned a bright red and the chain appeared from under the hilt. I charged towards Kira and swung at him. He quickly dodged.

"Raise Your Head, Wabisuke!" Kira murmured. He was suddenly behind me, the blade at my neck. My eyes widened and I did shunpo to get out of the zanpakuto's grasp. Next, it was Rangiku's turn. It turned out that he had doubled Rangiku's zanpakuto weight. But she soon released her zanpakuto, which, unfortunately for Kira, turned into ash. As I tried to find a way to get into the battle; since Rangiku was hogging all the action, I felt a strange reiatsu. I blinked and my eyes widened.

"Toushiro…." I mumbled. I looked up at Rangiku. "Rangiku-san! I'm going to check something out! Can you handle this guy?"

Rangiku nodded and I quickly dashed towards the Central 46.

"I can't believe I just left him alone. He's going to get killed!" I thought, getting a tighter grip on my hilt. YasuSuzume appeared in my mind.

"Great, now your boyfriend is getting his butt whooped." She said in a monotone voice. I slowly turned my gaze towards her. She stared back at me.

"What?"

"He's NOT my boyfriend."

"Oh shut up."

"He's NOT!"

"Well, I think he is."

"Fortunately, we're not."

"Sure, let's go with that."

"Shut up!"

She disappeared and my pace quickened. I arrived in Central 46 less than seconds when I felt Toushiro's reiatsu slipping.

"No….No…" I thought. I also felt Hinamori's reiatsu on the verge of…

I ran faster (which is technically now shunpo) and arrived to see Hitsugaya and Hinamori on the ground while Ichimaru and Aizen were about to take their leave. Unohana and Isane were there as well.

"Aizen!" I yelled. Aizen slowly turned his head. He then glared at me.

"Ah, I know you. You're Usagi's pupil." He replied, adding a small smirk. Tears formed in my eyes.

"How dare you kill Sensei! She was not only that…she was…." I made a fist. "She was my best friend….AND YOU KILLED HER!"

"So I did, so I did." Aizen said. "But she just knew quite too much."

"You b*s*a*d!"

"I think ya need to be more concerned with your two friends dyin' over there." Ichimaru stated and pointed to Hitsugaya and Hinamori. I glared at him but I knew I had to let him go. I needed to help my friends. Aizen and Ichimaru disappeared and Isane warned all of Seireitei of Aizen's plans and who the real foes are. As Isane did this, I rushed over to Hitsugaya.

"Unohana-taicho, is Hitsugaya-taicho…"

"He's fine. His wounds aren't as bad as…" She sighed and looked at Hinamori. "Her wounds are much worse. Why don't you help me get these two into my clinic."

"Yes ma'am."

I stood up as Unohana-taicho and Insane brought Toushiro and Hinamori to the clinic.

XxXxXx

I was sitting next to Toushiro's bed. Unohana-taicho said he would wake up in a few hours (because he's a captain….ok, that's not the reason but it's my fanfiction. Lol). I was, honestly, grateful for this. I sighed.

"What am I feeling?" I thought. "I don't like him. He's just….a friend." I began to think of other things to get it out of mind. But all that came up was Aizen and Ichimaru and Tousen attacking everyone in Sogkyoku Hill. Of course, I saw when Aizen and them were enveloped by some weird light and were sent somewhere. If only I was there to stop them…Well, then again, what could I do? It was an unfortunate way of thinking, but still. 3 ex-captains vs a 3rd seat. Yeah, not gonna happen. I just hoped Rangiku was ok…

I slapped my forehead. I forgot about Rangiku! I left her! Well, she did say she could take care of it. Plus, I think, the battle is over for now. So, she should be fine. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness." I murmured. Then, I looked at Toushiro. I stared at him.

"Shiro…I'm really sorry we got into that fight years ago. I was, well, being immature about it. I'm just glad you're feeling better." I smiled and stroked his spiky hair. "Toushiro….I….I….."

But suddenly, the door rammed open. I spun around and saw Matusmoto panting.

"What happened to taicho?!" She yelled and asked at the same time. I formed an anime sweat drop.

"Um, he's…fine." I replied. "But could you be more quiet? Unohana-taicho will get onto us."

Rangiku nodded and sighed with relief.

"Well, I'm just glad he's ok. Of course, I'm glad you're ok, too." She laughed and then stopped to stare at me.

"Uh…" I started. "Is…something wrong?"

"Yes. Why are you HERE?"

"Well DUH I'm supposed to make sure taicho is ok too!"

"Yeah but….Isane told me that you were here for an interestingly long time…"

"Ok, shut up." I stood up and walked off. "I don't want to hear anything about that!"

Rangiku giggled and followed me out of the clinic.


	9. Training

Author's note: HEY GUYS! Ok, well, I hope you liked chapter 8. So, this chapter is just, well, something i thought of after watching the Bleach Rock Musical: Dark of the Bleeding Moon (one of my favorite musicals, too! :D). You guys should watch it sometime! :) Anyways, here's chapter 9.

Oh, and about what Kaori Hikari is going to look like...ok, well, it wont let me put the link on here, i'm putting it on my profile. :)

Chapter 9: Training

A few days past after the whole Aizen incident. Currently…everyone is repairing any damages and so forth. Plus, I finally got to meet the Ryoka..

"So….you're Kurosaki Ichigo?" I asked, staring at the orange haired teen standing in front of me.

"Yeah. And you're….." He paused and I sighed.

"Kaori Hikari, 3rd seat of Squad 10." He nodded, but I had a feeling that he would ask my name sometime later. Then, I saw a girl pop up from behind him.

"Hikari-san! It's great to see you again!" She replied. I laughed.

"What's up, Orihime?" I replied. I had met Orihime some time ago, after leaving the clinic. Apparently, she too, was helping squad 4 heal the wounded.

"I'm good, Hikari! Oh, Kurosaki-kun, are you feeling better? You shouldn't be up and moving just yet…"

"I'm fine. Besides, I was on my way to see the Squad 11 dojo." Ichigo replied

I stared at him with shock.

"You actually want to GO to the Squad ELEVEN DOJO?"

"Yeah. There's nothing that bad…"

"Dang, Ichigo, you got guts. I hate that place…"

"Why? 'Cause you would get your butt kicked?" I turned around and saw Renji smirking at me. I shot him a glare.

"No, of course not."

"Yeah right. The last time you went there, you were so-"

I kicked Renji in the face and he was sent flying backwards.

"SHUT THE F***UP, ABARAI!"

Orihime and Ichigo just stood there, dumbfounded. I sighed, turned to the orange-heads, and walked past them.

"Stupid Renji…I could totally kick HIS a** anytime." I thought. The thought of it made my blood boil so, I decided to get rid of the unnecessary energy and train it off. Instead of going to the dojo, I walked to a nice, quiet forest area. I found the area quite relaxing and since not many shinigami go through here, it was a perfect retreating place when things go…well…out of control I suppose. I went to the middle of the area and took out my zanpakuto.

"Let them Burn, YasuSuzume!" I called. I suddenly thought of Toushiro and Hinamori the day Aizen finally confessed his betrayal…My grip grew tighter. If I had been more assertive and thought ahead. I was a fool to let Toushiro, even though he's captain level, to go by himself to rescue Hinamori.

"I'm so stupid. If I had been ahead of the game, I would have stopped Aizen…but then again…" I thought of Akemi-sama and how she was beaten by Aizen. I bit my lip. "I need to become stronger so next time, I won't let anyone get injured or killed…by his hands. I must resume my training to achieve….." A howl of wind blew across the area. I looked at the sky. "Bankai."

XxXxXx

Achieving bankai is easier said than done. The amount of training that must be done and so forth is more than enough to get you exhausted. It was about midnight and I was still training.

"You need to work harder, Hikari!" YasuSuzume said.

"I AM! But…it's not as easy as you think."

"I'm not stupid, I know that. Now get up. It's been a while since we continued our bankai training, so no slacking!" I nodded and was about to go for round two until I stopped short. YasuSuzume noticed and glared at a certain point in the forest.

"Someone's here…" She murmured. Her fiery hair blazed. "It's that g*dd**** dragon."

My eyes grew wide and brought YasuSuzume back into my zanpakuto. I faced the area where she was facing a while ago and Toushiro appeared from the shadows.

"What are you doing so late, Kaori?" He asked.

"Doing some late night training. Nothing that bad."

"Well, do it tomorrow. It's 12 and you need to get some rest. You have paperwork in the morning. Besides, you look horrible."

"H-How do you know? It's dark out!"

"How do you know I'm right in front of you?"

"Eh?" I moved my hand in front of me and felt Toushiro's cheek. That, pretty much, made my face go red. I quickly moved my hand away.

"W-Well, screw it. You hid your spiritual pressure."

There was a brief silence but I could still tell that Toushiro was in front of me.

"Taicho….?" I murmured. There was another silence. Maybe he wasn't there. But I swear, I thought he was. I sighed. He had a point about getting rest. I didn't want to look bad the next morning.

XxXxXx

I found it a waste to try and actually go to sleep. I still had the thought of Aizen almost killing Hinamori and Hitsugaya and actually killing Akemi-sama. I felt like jumping out of my bed and training more, but I needed to sleep at one point. In the end, unfortunately, I was up all night and I really DID look horrible the next morning.

"That's why it's called make up to cover this up." I mumbled and put some foundation on to cover the bags under my eyes. Toushiro would probably scold me for not sleeping and blah blah blah. I tied my hair, pinned it with a ribbon and instead of walking to the administrator office, I returned to the forest area to resume training. I had to achieve bankai.

"Lets go, YasuSuzume!" I said and begun training but this time, it was a short period of time. No, not because I finally got bankai, but because SOMEBODY had to disrupt it…again.

"Kaori, get you're a** back to Squad 10 and do the paperwork." Toushiro said quite bluntly. I pouted.

"You said I could do my training today!"

"AFTER finishing your paperwork."

"Oh, c'mon! I would totally finish those paperwork AFTER training!"

"If I wasn't mistaken, bankai training doesn't take just a few mere hours."

I stared at him in shock.

"B-Bankai? That's absurd."

"Quit BSing me, Kaori." I pouted.

"Shut up. I'm so not BSing you!"

"You just are, dumba**."

I stuck out my tongue out at him.

"Meh, just as long as you don't tell anybody. Besides, I don't plan to show my bankai to just anybody."

Toushiro just shrugged.

"Either way, I need you to do the paperwork."

"Aw, but Taicho…"

"Shut up. Get over there, now." I sighed and sheathed my zanpakuto. "Oh, and you look horrible. I told you to get some rest."

"Eh?" I put my hands onto my face to see if the foundation was on me. When I moved my hands away, I saw foundation of my fingers.

"You're stupid and gullible." I heard him say under his breath.

"YOU SUCK TOUSHIRO!"


	10. Spring Night

Author's note: Hey guys! It's me once again! Well, I'm glad I got so many great comments from chapter 8 and 9. That makes me so happy and it also gives me a strong motivation to continue the story until the very end!

Chapter 10: Spring Night

Tick Tock

Tick Tock

I stared at the unsigned paper in front of me. I had signed about 100 sheets. That, apparently, was nothing compared to the other 200 I had left.

"This sucks." I thought. "There's so much to do! My hands are killing me!"

I had to do get rid of the stacks of paper before Toushiro came back. It was fairly quiet and empty in the administrator room…I quickly checked all around me to see if Toushiro was around. When I couldn't see and sense his presence, I opened one of the windows facing a forest (how convenient for moi!), grabbed the stacks, and jumped out of the window. Once I was far enough, I took out my zanpakuto and burned the stacks until they were dust. I smirked to myself.

"Perfect. Now then…" I returned my zanpakuto and once I turned around, my eyes grew wide.

"T-T-Taicho!" I stuttered. "Wh-What are…you…doing…here?"

"I should be the once saying that, idiot." He moved his head to the side. "What's that?" He asked, pointing towards the dust on the ground.

"Um, it's, random…leaves! Yeah, leaves.."

"Really?"

"Totally."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"Positive?"

"OK, CAN WE PLEASE GO SOMEWHERE THAT'S NOT HERE?"

"Sure."

I gaped in surprise.

"Eh?"

"Sure. You said you wanted to move somewhere that's not here."

He grabbed my wrist and walked about 2 feet from the original area.

"THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

"Really? Then you should specify things clearly. Intelligent people like myself might not understand your stupid requests."

I twitched.

"Really now…?"

"I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve?" He asked.

"F**k yeah you did!" I was about to take out my zanpakuto but stopped abruptly. I smirked and took my hand out of the hilt. "No, I'm not going to fall for it. I'm not going to fall for such a childish remark."

"Really?" He asked, a smirk slowly appearing on his face.

"Yes, really. Now, if you excuse me…"

"Weren't you going to do your bankai training?"

"I WAS but you got in my way!"

"Ah, so you decided to use your paperwork as targets?"

"Yes I-" I stopped and slapped my forehead. "I am such an idiot!"

"That finally clicked in your head just now?" Toushiro murmured under his breath. I turned around to yell at him but he was gone. I crossed my arms and sighed.

"Maybe I'm not dead after all…" I thought.

XxXxXx

A few days past and apparently, Hitsugaya has been "avoiding" me…well, I guess I was avoiding him too….ok, we were avoiding each other. Like I said before, I started having "feelings" for him. It's way too weird to explain, but still. The fact that I might actually LIKE that cold, white haired midget feels weird. Well, I was a midget too…

As I tried to figure out what the heck I really felt about this guy, I also did my training as usual. Training for bankai is troublesome, but of course, we shinigami have to attain it at one point or another. Not only does it make you really tired physically, your looks get effected too! Unfortunately, training for two weeks every night and being deprived of sleep can make you look really horrible. Think about…well, how Hinamori looks right now. I mean, she may be sleeping, but you can still see those sags under her eyes! Yeah, well, that's what I look like…sorta.

xXxXxX

It was a late, spring evening. The cherry blossoms were blooming too.

"I guess training late at night has it's 'ups' every now and again." Yasusuzme mumbled. We were training once again. We were so close! So close! But Yasu decided that we needed our rest and since I was too lazy to go back to the barracks, I decided to just relax on the soft grassy ground.

"Yeah, you're right about that." I replied, staring at the beautiful moon. It was a mystical night to me. The moon was like the light, the starlit sky was the stage, and the sakura flowers were the mystical dancers. It was a truly wonderful night.

"Hikari," Yasusuzume started. "What are your thoughts?"

I turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

"Simply put it…I'm just worried about you. Every night after training you always fake your sleep."

"I'm not faking."

"I'm your zanpakuto. I know you."

I sighed. "Yeah, I was faking. So?"

"Well, if you were faking, that means you don't get the sleep you need. Something is keeping you awake, and it's something in your little head of yours." Yasusuzume poked my forehead.

"It's….nothing."

"Don't BS me."

I smiled. A zanpakuto really are in tone with their shinigami.

"Ok," I said, turning to face the moon once more. "You know how…I've been thinking about my captain right?"

"Ah, shiro right?"

"Um, yeah. Well…" I sucked in a big breath. "I think…I really…like him."

There was a brief silence between us. Yasusuzume simply nodded and stared at the sky. The silence felt like it lasted an eternity.

"Why?" Yasusuzme asked, breaking the long silence. "Why do you have feelings for him?"

"I…I don't know, to tell you the truth. It's really complicated."

"How can you like someone when you don't have a reason to like him?"

"W-Well…I'm not like that."

"You love BSing people, don't ya?"

"Shut up."

Yasu let out a smirk and looked at her hands.

"Well then, if you love him so much, why don't you tell him?"

I turned to face her, my face red.

"Why in God's name tell him I f**king like him?! I mean, honestly!"

"Well, he might have the same feelings."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then you're out of lucky, kid."

I twitched, feeling the urge to strangle my zanpakuto until I heard a rustle from the leaves. We both turned around, Yasu returning to its unreleased state. I grabbed the hilt and was ready to attack until I saw the person who came out.

"T-T-Taicho?! What are you doing here?" I stuttered.

"Nothing." He said, letting out a sigh. "I had to do some late night paperwork since Matusmoto wasn't there to do the work. Neither were you."

"Oh." Was my only answer. Hitsugaya sat down next to me and stared at the sky.

"Besides, why would I miss a night like this."

I laughed. "Reminds me of the old days back in Rukongai. When life was so carefree."

XxXxX

"_Shiro-kun! Momo-chan! C'mon, the fireworks are starting!" I yelled. There was a firework festival at the lake, and momo, shiro, and I got permission from granny to go and see it._

"_Shut it! We're coming!" Shiro called. I stuck my tongue out._

"_You're so slow! Maybe that spikey hair of yours is the problem! It's weighing you down!"_

"_No it's not!"_

"_Yeah it is!"_

"_No it isn't!"_

"_Ok, you two!" Momo said calmly, breaking us up. "We're here to have fun, not argue."_

_I nodded in agreement, throwing a glare at Shiro. He merely grunted and averted his eyes. _

_We arrived at the lake and there were people already crowding the place._

"_Crud, they got all the good spots." I whined. _

"_No they didn't." Shiro said. Momo and I looked at him. He turned and dashed off. We ran to follow him. We ran through the woods and suddenly, we arrived at the other side of the lake. It was strange, the back of the lake was so beautiful, yet no one came on this side._

"_Those old people don't have the energy to run over here." Shiro stated. "Old guys and their stupid arguments. What a pain."_

_Momo and I laughed and suddenly, the three of us heard a boom from above. We looked up and saw sparkling lights in beautiful patterns appear in the sky._

"_This is so wonderful!" Momo gasped. I nodded in agreement. Shiro only looked at the sky, but I saw a small smile appear on his face. In that second, I glomped Shiro._

"_Eh? What the h**l was that for?" He asked._

"_You look so cute when you smile!"_

_Shiro's face grew a small shade of red but shook it off._

"_Shut up! You're so heavy!"_

"_Am not!"_

"_Yeah too!"_

"_You guys…" Momo murmured. "Can't we do this some other time?"_

XxXxX

Toushiro and I looked at each other, the night sky illuminating only our faces.

"Toushiro," I started. "I…I want to apologize…for a lot of things in the past."

There was no response except for a stare. I felt my face get hot. Man, did he always look this sexy at night? His emerald green eyes and frosty white haired looked like it was practically shining! I took a deep breath and continued.

"So, I want to tell you something." I hesitated. Was this a good idea? Should I tell him now? No, I had to tell him the truth now. "I…I…."

Suddenly, Toushiro's finger gently touched my lips.

"You talk too much. It makes you look worse than you already are."

I didn't care if his finger was on my lips; I let out a quiet laugh. "Really huh?"

For the first time in a long time, I saw a real, genuine smile form on Toushiro's lips. It felt like years since I last saw that. A cloud had appeared and was slowly, very slowly covering the moon. Just as the cloud continued to cover the moon, Toushiro and I slowly got closer until I felt our lips touch. Finally, after so many years, I finally felt relaxed and calm. In that one kiss, it felt like my sadness and worry washed away. I finally felt free.

Little did I know…but on that same night…at around the same night, a massacre was being done somewhere in Squad 2…


	11. A calling

Author's Note: Heeeey guys! Well, it's magical me again…Uh, so yeah, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story! Well, you guys might have been wondering "Whoa, what's with the massacre thing goin' on at Squad 2?" Yeah, well, that'll be explained in this chapter. Don't worry. I'll just say this: It's not a massacre. I sort of over….exaggerated on that. xD So, ignore that past "massacre" thing the previous chapter. :)

Chapter 11: Calling

"Eh?" I asked, my eyes wide. "Someone got killed over at Squad 2?"

"Y-Yes ma'am, er, at least, that's what I've been hearing." A non ranked shinigami replied. I groaned.

"So that's why Captain and Matsumoto went on a meeting." Then I faced the shinigami. "Anything else?"

"Well, we know that it might be…a..well…a hollow."

I gave her a questioned look but the shinigami just shrugged. I pouted.

"A hollow? Killing someone in SQUAD 2? If I'm not mistaken, squad 2 is like….untouchable…almost."

"Well, that's what I've been told. I could be wrong."

"Unfortunatly, you're right." We turned to see Renji leaning on the wall. He shrugged slightly and let himself in. Generally, people who were under lieutenants and captains had to be respectful and blah. Honestly, in my point of view, that was all BS. The shinigami bowed as Renji came in, but I sighed.

"What's up, Renji?" I asked.

"The ceiling." He replied. "Anyways, what you've been hearing is right. Someone got killed in squad 2. But it wasn't exactly a hollow." There was a brief silence before he continued.

"To be more exact, it was an arrancar."

My eyes grew wide. To tell you the truth, only captains and lieutenants are supposed to know what an arrancar are. Well, let's add that to the BS list for me, huh? Lets per say that I was busy going through Toushiro's captain stuff one day and stumbled upon a file that told what arrancars were. My face grew grim and unnaturally serious.

"An arrancar is Seireitei? That's…that's downright impossible!"

"It wasn't a normal arrancar either. It was…" Then he paused and glared at me. "Wait, how the f**k do you know what an arrancar is? I just learned this today but still!"

I averted my eyes. "I have my sources."

"THAT'S NOT A LIABLE ANSWER, HIKARI!"

"WELL SCREW THEN!" I yelled, gritting my teeth and giving Renji a death glare. As Renji and I had a death glare fight, someone had kicked Renji in the face, making him fall on top of me. I kicked Renji off of course and I looked to see who destroyed the glare fight (cause I was practically winning!). I saw a petite girl with raven hair. I smirked and got up.

"How's life, Rukia? Been much too long since I last talked to ya."

Rukia replied with a smirk and gave me a high five. Though noble, she was still a normal shinigami girl.

"It's been great. So you know about the arrancars?"

I nodded but gave her a questioning look. "You know about them?"

"I learned about them a few minutes ago."

"Eh?"

"Oh, so Renji didn't say anything yet. Well, you, me, Renji, Ikkaku, and Yumichika are going on a mission."

"Don't…forget….Rangiku…and Hitsugaya-taicho!" Renji stuttered as he tried to get up, covering his bloody nose. I grunted.

"A mission? Just when someone got killed in squad 2?"

"Well, apparently, there was another sighting of them yesterday and such." Rukia replied. I sighed.

"Well, we can't just stand here all day." I said.

XxXxX

That afternoon, I was already packing my stuff when YasuSuzume slapped her forehead suddenly.

"What's wrong, Yasu?" I asked.

"You said we would finally finish our bankai training!" Yasu complained but I smirked.

"But we did."

Yasu looked at me like I was insane. I sighed, and in a few minutes, we were in the forest again. I held YasuSuzume tightly as I closed my eyes. After weeks to what felt like months of training, it was all worth it to this one thing:

"Bankai." I murmured. A sudden rush of adrenaline flowed through my veins. Fire swirled my zanpakuto. The chain extended until a similar sword appeared. Once the sword appeared, the chain disappeared. Flames swirled endlessly around both the blades. Yeah, it wasn't as fancy and bada** as Toushiro's but it was better than Ichigo's.

XxXxX

Hitsugaya Toushiro was watching his Kaori Hikari activating bankai for the first time. He could only let out a smirk. She looked, well, bada** in bankai. Not the scary bada** like Kenpachi. More like cool bada** like, well, him. He didn't want to interrupt her new achievement but it was time to go to the transient world and there was no way he and the others were going to wait for her.

Hikari looked a little different in bankai. Her sleeves in her shinigami uniform burned off and showed she had red strips formed on her arms. Her face and even her hair had red strips. The fire swirling around her zanpakuto looked like two pairs of wings, strangely. Hikari didn't seem to act like an angel in Hitsugaya's point of view. He shrugged it off and jumped out from the tree.

XxXxX

"I'm so bad! So bad! So bad!" I yelled, feeling ecstatic about the whole bankai feeling. Maybe the troublesome training isn't that bad after all. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. The adrenaline slowed down and quickly as it came, my zanpakuto slowly returned back to its unreleased state. I smiled down at my zanpakuto.

"Thank you, YasuSuzume." I murmured and suddenly, I heard clapping. I turned around to see Toushiro, clapping.

"So you finally reached bankai, huh?" Toushiro asked.

"Yup! I'm so glad!" I said with a smile. Toushiro gave a quick nod but suddenly went back to his serious-ness.

"That's all great to know, but it's time to go the transient world and honestly, I don't give a s**t if you're left here."

I sarcastically gasped. "But Shiro-kun wouldn't leave his new girlfriend all alone would he."

Toushiro's face had a faint tint of pink but it disappeared quickly.

"Do you think I care?"

"Yes~!" I said. Toushiro twitched. I laughed and shook my head. "I'm kidding, Hitsugaya."

Toushiro sighed, knowing that it was a futile attempt to correct me.

XxXxX

We arrived at the senkai gate a few minutes after that little chat. Everyone was already there, waiting.

"What took you so long, Hikari?" Ikkaku asked impatiently. "If you want to do some makeout session, do it later!"

My eyes widened and my face grew red with anger. "What the F**k, Ikkaku? At least I attract people! Look at you! Your bald head is so bright, it blinds every person that walks by it! No wonder you have no chance with the ladies!"

Ikkaku twitched. "Bald? Did you f**king call me bald?"

"Yes, I did call you bald. The truth hurts, doesn't it?"

He was about to attack me but Yumichika stopped him.

"Come now, Ikkaku. Why don't you unleash your rage on someone else." Ikkaku grunted and averted his eyes. I gave a small smirk.

We were about to head off when a person from squad 2 came over. How did I know he was from squad 2? He wore that ninja outfit that every squad person wore.

"Excuse me, Hitsugaya-taicho but where is Kaori Hikari?" The man asked. I turned and walked over to the squad 2 ninja.

"I'm Kaori Hikari. What's wrong?"

The ninja gave me an envelope and suddenly, disappeared. I stared at it and wanted to open it. I turned to face my companions for my next mission.

"I'll meet you guys at the transient world." I said. They all gave curt nods and walked through the gate. When they were gone, I opened the envelope.

_Remember your purpose, Kaori_

_You are meant to fight_

_You are to kill those who oppose you_

_That is your calling_

_Your calling is to kill_

My eyes widened when I looked at the handwriting. No, it wasn't true. I know it wasn't true. She died a long time ago. I looked at the envelope. I suddenly noticed that there was blood stains on the corners and the kanji characters said: Hikari Kaori. I also noticed that it was already opened. Probably Soifon-taicho used it for evidence of some sort.

The thing that got to me was the handwriting. It was so familiar and yet the same time alien. I stared at the sheet until I quickly burned it the ground. She's not alive. I know she isn't.

Akemi Usagi might be alive. But if she was alive..then was she the one who killed someone from her own squad? If so, why? And a better question…

Was she an arrancar?


	12. Surprise, Surprise

Author Note: Sorry guys for the long delay (a week, technically...but, still). I tried to make this long....but it just didn't seem to work out. I think i jacked this chapter up due to rush...So, sorry if it sucks...really badly. If there's something you don't understand, please tell me! I'll explain it the best i can. :) Anyways, please review! thanks guys! I'll try to get chapter 13 out sooner! :)

Chapter 12: Surprise, Surprise

"Hey, Hikari," Renji started, looking back. "Is something wrong?"

I looked up, gave a fake yet genuine smile, and shook my head.

"Nah, I'm ok. C'mon, let's find Kurosaki." I replied. Renji shrugged and continued walking. We arrived at Karakura High School this morning and we were finding Ichigo. Strangely, my brain wasn't in the mission yet. I was still wondering about the letter….

I felt a loud SLAP across my face. I blinked and twitched. I looked to see who slapped me and I saw Rangiku glaring yet worried look.

"Are you sure you're ok? If it's a girl issue then.."

"Oh, uh, no…not really. I'm just a tiny bit tired. I have been training for like…3 weeks with only 2 hours of sleep."

Rangiku nodded and put her hands on my shoulders.

"If something is wrong, then tell me."

I nodded and we returned with the group.

"Matsumoto, we're was the room Kurosaki was in?" Toushiro asked. Rangiku had her "thinking" look.

"Ooooh, I think that was the paper I left at my room…."

Toushiro let out a sigh of frustration.

"It's ok, we can just look for him through his Spiritual Pressure." Ikkaku mentioned. In just a few minutes, we found that orange haired carrot. He turned around, shocked.

"Ikkaku, Renji, Yumichika, Rangiku, Hideko," Ichigo walked towards us. "Toushiro."

"Hitsugaya-taicho." Toushiro corrected, trying not to grab the teen's neck and strangle him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ichigo asked. Suddenly, someone was on the window which made Ichigo freeze and slowly turn.

"Aw, young love…" I thought. A small blush slowly creped through my cheeks. Since my brain had awkward thoughts, I almost missed Rukia beating the crap out Ichigo. My eyes widened and I saw Rukia grab Ichigo's soul (aka: Ichigo's Shinigami form) as she ran off through the window.

"Man, she didn't have to do so much damage." Renji mumbled. The door opened and I looked to see who it was. It was this light brown haired boy who seemed very…amused per say by Rangiku's….uh…

"IT'S BEAUTY! IT'S WONDER! IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A DREAM COME TRUUUUE!" He yelled. "COME TO ME MY PRIN-"

Rangiku stopped him in mid sentence and mid glomp by kicking him away. She didn't even look at him. I stared wide eyed and the boy.

"Hey, Rangiku, you didn't have to be so…..harsh. He only wanted to jump you." I said quietly.

"Oh, sorry. Reflects."

I shrugged. Now we had to make everyone forget all this….How fabulous…

XxXxXxX

Once school ended, we all decided to go to Ichigo's house. I wasn't that big of an idiot to go with Ikkaku and company and try sneaking into Ichigo's house nor was I that much of a party pooper to stay and wait outside with Hitsugaya. So, simply, I decided to skip this. I wasn't in the mood to watch all this. Besides, I would be hearing the same information for the 3rd time. Would YOU like listening to a 5 page report about arrancars 3 times in one day? I didn't think so.

Rangiku was depressed that I wouldn't come, but I said that I would meet up with them later.

As the others took the path to Ichigo's house, I took a different path. There was something I needed to do. Something that was a bit more important than the mission. Ok, not really. More like a personal issue that needed to be resolved.

I had asked Orihime about where the two arrancar had appeared. She gave me the directions and vice versa. When I arrived at the area, there was a large crater. I blinked, but shook it off. This must have been an interesting fight. I went in the crater and bent down. I had a tiny bit of practice with squad 9 about investigation and stuff.

I had gone to Squad 2, secretly of course, to get some reitsu samples. Of course, if Soifon-taicho saw me, I would be doomed. Anyways, there was a faint race of reitsu on the ground. I got a sample, careful placed it in my school bag, and walked out. I'm going to get a few things straightened out.

XxXxXx

I didn't have a place to stay, but that didn't really matter. I used a small portion of my savings in getting a hotel room. I placed my bag in a table and sat on my bed.

"Akemi-sama…" I mumbled. The fact that my master was a VILLIAN haunted me. She would never, EVER side with the man she despised…the one who killed her! I shook it off and grabbed my bag. I opened it up, took out the samples, and began my experiment. Ok, so I felt like Mayuri-taicho to a certain extent…I bet I sound like him too.

Anyways, I began comparing the samples swiftly. I had to wait an hour until it was done so I decided to use this time to rest. It WAS 6 pm. Wow, doesn't time fly by fast? I laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. With that, I slowly closed my eyes. Suddenly, I heard my ringtone play on my phone. My eyes shot open and quickly grabbed my phone from my table. My eyes grew wide.

"Arrancar…" I thought with surprise. I went out in my balcony and then looked back on my phone.

"Crap…Two of them are heading for Toushiro's place." I quickly dialed his number.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! It's me, Hikari! Two arrancar are heading your way!"

"What?!"

"I said-"

I was cut off when I saw something red in a distance. When I looked closer, my eyes widened and I quickly got out of my gigai and blocked the cero with YasuSuzme.

"Heh, so this is what that rabbit's been talking about." I was facing a man with light blue hair, blue eyes, and his remains of his hollow mask were on his right jaw bone. I shifted my feet to a fighting stance.

"You're an arrancar…"

"Tch, I guess you can put it that way. I hear you got some pretty decent fighting skills, huh?

"So what if I do?"

"Then here's a nice fun fact for ya: You're going to die right here and right now." I quickly dodged his attack and used _shunpo_ to dodge his cero.

"This is really bad. I don't even know this freak!"

Then, something hit me. The f-ing samples are back at the hotel! That freak of freaking nature is going to destroy it! I firmly gripped my hilt and used _shunpo_ again back to the hotel. By the time I was at the hotel, he was gone. Thankfully, everything was accounted for. But as I searched around, I couldn't find him.

"Weird…" I mumbled and pouted. "Man, I wanted to show off my new bankai!"

I sighed and looked at the samples. There was only a few minutes left. I took out my cell and the arrancars were still here. To get rid of my boredom…(yes, ONLY to get rid of my boredom), I locked my hotel door, walked out into the balcony, and dashed off. Besides, the others might need my help. By the time I had found Ikkaku and Yumichika, they had already gotten rid of their arrancar. Ikkaku looked like a mess, though.

"Hey, Ikkaku, what's up with you?" I asked. He grunted and averted his eyes.

"Just killed an arrancar. Can't you tell?"

"Well, yeah..but was it that bad?" He ignored my question and then looked at me. He gave me a quizzical look.

"Why the heck are you so clean and peppy about. Don't tell me you just got the message."

"Oh, I got the message…I was just busy."

"Sure ya did. You were just being a coward."

"I was not!"

"Whatever, Hikari." Ikkaku tried to get up, but fell back down. "I'm not in the mood to argue with a simple-minded person."

I twitched and I felt a quick surge of spiritual pressure. Toushiro. I turned around and used _shunpo_ again to find where Toushiro was. By the time I had arrived, Toushiro had beaten his rival, but was severely wounded.

"Toushiro!" I quickly caught him and stared at him. I checked his pulse and let out a breath of relief. "Thank god. You're ok."

Rangiku came by, staring at me with confusion.

"What? Can't a friend be worried about another friend?" I asked.

"Not unless the friend is a girl and the other friend is a girl and the girl has the boy's head on her lap like that…."

"Ok, ok, shut up. Shut up." I slowly put Toushiro's head to the side and got up. "I gotta go."

"Sure. But why aren't you…"

"I was doing something else and apparently involved me not getting my butt into the fights you guys were in."

I turned around and dashed back to the hotel room. I went back to my gigai and stretched.

"What a day. Now to check on that samples…" I looked at the results and I dropped the computer right then and there. I couldn't move.

"No…No….She wouldn't…She's dead….She's dead."

The monitor was fuzzy, but it had said:

Result: Positive

In other words....

"Akemi Usagi" is an arrancar.


	13. Surprise, Surprise part 2

Author's note: Yeah, another long delay. Sorry. School has been keeping me away from updating. So, without a further ado, please enjoy chapter 13! Sorry if this one is also bad. I'll at one point make a better chapter that's not so dull and horrible as this and chapter 12. Oh, and on an extra note….I HAD HORRIBLE GRAMMAR ON PAST CHAPTERS IF U DIDN'T NOTICE! I mean dang, I was re-reading my own story and holy crap, what a mess it was! So, sorry about that horrible crap. xD

Chapter 13: Surprise part 2

I stared dumbfounded at the results. Arrancar? My sensei? Did I miss something?

"That's…that's not possible. She would never side with Aizen. She hated Aizen since the very beginning. Even if she did die and somehow ended in Hueco Mundo, she would never go with Aizen!" I made a fist, ran into the restroom, and slammed my fist onto the mirror. I felt my knuckles bleed, but I didn't really feel any pain. I took a deep breath and slowly withdrew my fist. Guess I had to pay for that.

I wrapped my hand in a bandage and let out a sigh. Crud, Akemi-sama is a arrancar…at least how the sample reader had said. Maybe something was wrong with the machine.

I stood up, returned the small machine to the bag, and walked out of the room. I had to get some fresh air, to cool my thoughts. Tomorrow I had to go to "school." School is so boring. I mean, I already learned this stuff in the Academy. Now I'm expected to learn it again! There's only one word to describe that: Unfairness.

I sighed and decided to pay a visit to Hitsugaya and Rangiku. They're probably doing something a lot more fun than I am. I knew they were staying at Orihime's house (since Rangiku had yelled it out when we were getting our gigai's that she was going to see Orihime and have some her "delicious" food. I don't think it's delicious.) so, I took a turn and walked down the road that lead to Orihime's house.

XxXxXxXx

"Sorry, Hikari-san. Toushiro-kun and Rangiku-san had left to meet with Ikkaku-san and Yumichika-san." Orihime said when she finally opened the door. She was wearing an apron and she had mittens on, so she must be cooking something foul, I mean good. Ahem…

"And they didn't tell me about it?!" I asked.

"I thought they already called you."

I quickly dug through my pockets and grabbed out my cell.

"Dang it….it has one missed call." I mumbled. I flipped it open and looked to see who called. I would have thrown the cell behind me.

"Great. Just great. If hitsugaya kills me later, then I won't be surprised. Do you know where exactly they were going to go after they would meet Ikkaku and Yumichika?"

"Yeah..they said they would go to the park or something."

I nodded. "Thanks Orihime. I owe ya one. I better get going before Hitsugaya starts nagging like an angry old lady. Don't tell him I said that though."

"My mouth is sealed!" She smiled and waved goodbye.

XxXxXxX

Now, it was bad enough that I have "school" stuff the next AND had to think about what happened to Akemi-sensei…but now I was about to get a lot of nagging from the one and only white haired prodigy: Hitsugaya Toushiro.

"Where the heck have you been, Kaori?" He asked.

"Uh….I was…."

"Being a lazy a** and sleeping in her room all day." Ikkaku said.

"No I wasn't! I was simply taking a walk around town is all."

"Then how come you didn't answer my call?" Hitsugaya asked.

"The phone was on silent. Geez, will you stop naggin' already. You're driving me insane. So, why are we all meeting?"

"I have information about those arrancars we fought last night."

Ikkaku coughed. "Only one of us didn't seem to fight at all."

I shot Ikkaku a glare and he replied with a smirk and looked away.

"Anyways," Hitsugaya began again. "I found out that arrancars that are ranked 10 and above are known as espada. They are the strongest out of all the arrancar."

Our eyes widened.

"So…the arrancars that we fought…" Rangiku started.

"They weren't espada." Hitsugaya finished.

"If you guys were that badly beat up…and that was only normal arrancars, I guess you guys better train, huh?" I thought but Ikkaku, being a butt head, seemed to read my mind and shot me a glare.

"Oi, what did you do during the time when the arrancars came? Nothing! You just sat there and watched!"

"What?! I was doing something important!"

"Like what?!"

"Like figuring out what those arrancars are capable of!"

There was a brief silence.

"So, you've been researching? That's really unlike you, Hikari. You're usually lazy and just sit around and do nothing all day." Yumichika said with a dramatic sigh.

"Well, I have been researching AND training." I countered. Yumichika gave a dramatic shrug.

"Well then," Hitsugaya interfered. "What have you found so far?"

"Nothing. It's not like I was able to get up close and personal with an arrancar and see what their capable of. But since you guys did…" Then I trailed off and suddenly remembered that light blue arrancar that was about to fight me. "Actually, never mind. Besides, you guys fought against arrancars and was able to beat them. But I can probably base off the attacks to estimate what the espadas are made out of."

Everyone nodded, Ikkaku adding a snort with doubt. I ignored it, of course.

"Anyways, I need to go and return to my research." I said.

"Yeah, 'research'…sure. Whatever." Ikkaku responded.

"baldy." I murmured.

"EH? WHAT THE H*** DID YOU CALL ME?!" He was about to tackle me but I shifted my feet to swiftly dodge his attack.

"You're so obvious when you attack me." I taunted. Ikkaku was about to attack again until Rangiku slammed a kick at Ikkaku's head. I laughed and walked off. Guess the meeting if over. But the fact that they were having a hard time fighting these arrancars and there were stronger versions of them…that's a pretty scary thought if you think about it. But nevertheless…we just have to get stronger. Simple as that. But of course, I have to contribute something as well.

I began walking through the park. It was mid afternoon on a breezy Sunday. Tomorrow I had to go to school. Yeah, I'm not going through the whole rant thing again. You're probably ticked off at me for that. Anyways, even though it was mid afternoon, it's supposed to be sunny out (unless it's raining. But it's sunny out right now…Yeah, I'm probably not making any sense anymore so I'm just going to move on). Strangely, it seemed to be getting darker. By the time I reached the area where the first arrancars where first seen, it seemed like the whole city when into a blackout. I took out my cell phone. I can't even see the backlight of the phone. Ok, maybe I'm turning blind….

"Kaori-san…"

I turned around. Nothing.

"Kaori-san."

I turned around again. Still nothing to be seen!

"Ok, who the he** are you?!" I yelled. There was a brief silence. "_Ok, don't answer me._"

"Stay out of our way."

"Who's way? Why?"

"Stay out of our way."

"Ok, I got you the first time. Will in heaven's sake tell me who you are, why you're telling me this, and why I'm in the dark?!"

A brief silence and this really did tick me off. I popped a mod soul into my mouth and once I was in shinigami form, I unsheathed my zanpakuto.

"Let Them Burn, YasuSuzume." Flames quickly illuminated the darkened area and I had returned to the world of light again. Then, I saw a figure standing a few feet before me. She had dark hair tied into a tight bun and crystal blue eyes. She wore a white blouse with a ruffle in the middle. She had a white skirt with a thick black line running down the side of the skirt. The ruffle was black as well. She had a hollow mask fragment around her neck, making it look like a boney necklace. She had white, hug on boots. I stared at this figure in surprise.

"Hello Kaori-san."

"Akemi-sama…."


	14. Fear and Caring

Author's Note: Holy crud guys...it's been MONTHS since i last updated huh? O_o please, oh please do not kill me!!!!!!!

Oh, and one last announcement…

I'M GOING TO MAKE MY FIRST FMA STORY/ONESHOT (well, thinking of doing that…)! :D I'm pretty excited too! Ok, why did I put story/oneshot? 'Cause I'm unsure whether or not I should do a oneshot or a story! xD But I'm going to be doing something FMA soon, so I would like to know if I should do a oneshot or story. I'll let you know ahead of time, though: If I do an oneshot, I'm thinking of titling it "Tears of an Angel"; Royai (Roy and Riza) tribute. If I do a story, then idk what I'll title it, but I plan to make it an OCxEd Elric. :D

Chapter 14 Fear and Caring:

"Akemi-sama…." I gasped. The figure standing before me was not the teacher I knew years ago. She had a dark aura swirling around her. Her face was monotonous and her eyes showed nothing. "You seem…different."

"Kaori, go back to Seireitei."

I stared at her in disbelief.

"Why?" Was the only thing I could say to the familiar alien.

"Go back to Seireitei." The figure replied once more, this time more defiant. With that, she disappeared. My whole world seemed to be in a stand-still until I suddenly collapsed to my knees, my eyes staring off into space. I don't know how long I had spent staring but suddenly, I felt someone slapped the back of my head. I blinked and soon, I turned to glare at the person. That person is the one and only Hitsugaya Toushiro.

"Hey." Hitsugaya said bluntly. I pouted and looked away.

"What's up?" I replied.

"Everything is pretty good."

"That's good…"

There was a brief silence until Hitsugaya spoke up again. "But you're not."

I looked at him for a brief moment and looked back into the abyss.

"Yeah I am. You just don't notice it."

"Two letters say it all: BS"

"Shut up. It is not BS."

Another brief silence fell which, by the way, was driving me off the wall! I quickly stood up and began walking away. Awkwardly, he didn't follow me.

"_Weirdo_." I thought and once I was out of the park, I turned to see if he was behind me, but he wasn't. I shrugged it off and walked back to the hotel. Unfortunately, I had "school" the next day and I wasn't all that happy about it. Of course, I ranted about that the last chapter, so I guess I'll shut up about it.

XxXxXx

I heard a loud ringing in my ears. I blinked my eyes open. I slowly turned to check what time it was.

"Oh…7:45….SEVEN FOURTY-FIVE?!" I quickly jumped out of bed. First period would start at 8 and I had only 15 minutes to get to school! I grabbed my clothes from the closet, slapped it on, brushed my teeth, and ran out of the hotel. I looked at my watch.

"Aw man! I'm gonna be late!" I thought. By the time I got inside the classroom, I heard the bell ring. I saw Rangiku snickering at her desk.

"Just on time, eh?" She asked as I took my seat.

"Shut it."

XxXxXx

"Eh? Where's Hitsugaya-taicho?" I asked. Rangiku pondered that question for a little while.

"I'm unsure. But knowing taicho, he must be doing something alone."

"God, that sounds so suggestive."

"I'm not trying to be."

"Whatever. Hey, where's Ichigo?"

"I don't know…I heard he was doing some sort of training."

"Oh, so HE gets to do training and I don't?"

"The only reason why he can is because he's cool like that."

"So I'm not cool, huh?"

"Nah, not really." Rangiku and I turned around to see Ikkaku and Yumichika walking towards us.

"No one wanted your opinion, Ikkaku." Rangiku stated. Ikkaku grunted.

"Well, I'm going to go and find Taicho." I replied.

"I'll come with you!" Rangiku added.

"You two girls go and do that. Yumichika and I are going to do some other stuff." Ikkaku said and the two walked off.

"So, if I was a white haired captain that wants solitary time….where would he be?"

"Where are students NOT supposed to be on a normal basis?"

We both fell silent for a minute until a smile came across our faces.

"The roof." We said in unison.

XxXxX

We saw Hitsugaya on the roof and we smirked.

"I'll get his attention." Rangiku whispered.

"Just don't do something stupid." I whispered back. She nodded, but I could tell she wasn't listening. She walked behind Hitsugaya and covered his eyes from behind, her huge things tackling the back of his head.

"Matsumoto, what are you doing here?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Aw, taicho. How did you know?"

"Because I'm not an idiot unlike some people I know. Speaking of idiots, you brought another one with you. Where is she?"

"_He knew?"_ I thought.

"Oh, she's over there." Rangiku said.

"First of all, how am I supposed to know what 'there' is when my eyes are being covered?"

"Woops! Sorry, taicho!" She said happily and removed her hands. I decided to see how well Hitsugaya's reflexes were so, I got up, ran towards him, and was about to land a punch. Note: ABOUT to land a punch. Before I could punch him in the face, Hitsugaya grabbed my fist, pinned me down, and smirked.

"You do understand I'm a CAPTAIN, not an average third seat like yourself." Hitsugaya asked.

"Che….whatever." I mumbled. "Besides, what are you doing up here? Students aren't supposed to be up here at this time…"

"We're not real students. I was giving the report back to Seireitei."

"Oh! Did you tell them how we beat those guys?!" Rangiku asked. Hitsugaya scoffed.

"The report isn't informal, Matsumoto. And remember, those weren't espada. They were normal arrancar. If we had that much trouble dealing with them, then we have to be more prepared for the next attack."

Rangiku and I nodded. Though, I began to worry.

"_So, this is what the rabbit's been talking about!" The blue haired arrancar stated._

Is Akemi-sama working really working with them? If so, is she an arrancar or an espada? All these questions seemed to make my brain into a question battlefield.

"Hey, are you ok?" Rangiku asked and I looked up.

"Eh? Yeah. Totally." I said, smiling. She looked at me questioningly but shrugged.

"Alright. But if you faint in the middle of the street, then I'm going to laugh at you."

"Sure. Then I'll get run over by a car or get walked on by a hobo."

Rangiku laughed and Hitsugaya sighed.

"Kaori, don't you have something to do?" He asked. I blinked and thought for a moment.

"Um…I don't…" I started.

"You have paperwork to do." Hitsugaya replied to my unfinished sentence.

"I do?" I asked.

"She does?" Rangiku asked. Hitsugaya nodded.

"Yes. It's in Inoue's room."

"Why her room?" I asked.

"Because it's neater and we already have a lot of stuff in our guest room."

"Ok…" I grabbed my school bag. "Well, I guess I'll leave then."

XxXxXx

"Sir, did Hikari really have paperwork?" Rangiku asked. Hitsugaya smirked.

"Nah."

"Then…why did you…" Rangiku started but then, a smile came up on her face. "You knew she wasn't ok so you sent her off to help her think! Aw, that's so _kawaii_ Taicho!" She said and started pinching his cheeks.

"MATSUMOTO!"

XxXxXx

I was quietly sitting under a tree in one of the parks.

"Why is it hard being me?" I asked myself quietly. It was getting a little warmer, since summer was coming up. I sighed and looked up. It was such a peaceful afternoon. I sat there in complete silence, pondering about the questions I had in my head. Was that really Akemi-sama? I mean, she looked like her, she sounded like her, heck, she smells like her! Also, why does she want me to go back to Seireitei? I mean, I'm fully capable of handling on my own and I could kick any arrancar's butt. Ok, maybe not ANY arrancar, but you understand what I mean. I sighed and began to wonder if I would be able to see "Akemi-sama" again. IF I get the chance, maybe she won't be so…so….bleh and actually answer my questions! I slapped my forehead. What am I thinking? It was probably a onetime thing and I SHOULD heed her warning! That's what warnings are for, right? Plus, if I DID get to see her again, she would be my enemy and I would have to fight her and possibly….

"Hikari?" I heard a voice. I looked up and saw Rukia standing in front of me. I did a quick wave.

"'Sup, Kuchiki?" I said in a casual tone. Rukia scoffed.

"Since when did you call me 'Kuchiki', Kaori?" Rukia asked. I smirked.

"Ok, ok, sorry. What are you doing here?" I asked. Rukia sighed.

"Well, Ichigo isn't at school and Inoue is off somewhere. Renji had to head back to Urahara's and the rest…well, their apparently 'busy.' I was going back to the house and I saw you just sitting there and I thought 'She looks horrible' and I came over here."

"Eh? I don't look THAT bad and plus, I was here…thinking about stuff." My voice trailed off at the end. Rukia looked at me with a confused look.

"Hikari, do you want to talk about it?"

"It's ok, Rukia." I stood up. "Besides, I was about to go back to the hotel."

She was silent for a moment then smiled.

"Alright. If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine by me." She turned around. "If it's a personal problem, then I don't need to know. Just know that if you need someone to talk to, you always have me."

I smiled back. "Thanks, Rukia. I'm glad we're friends."

Rukia did a curt nod and walked off. When she was gone, I grabbed my bag and walked back to the hotel.

XxXxXx

"Is that her, Akemi-sama?"  
"Yes."  
"It seems she didn't heed your warning."

"So it seems."  
"Shall I get rid of her?"

"…Since Aizen-sama has confirmed it, then so be it. Be quick about it, Lita."

"Yes ma'am."


	15. Trickery

Author's note: I know, I know, I'm really late when it comes to updating. But my grades had just slipped so I had to heave it back to normal. Have you guys read my Soul Eater story yet? I'm still working on my FMA stuff, so bear with me. Until then, I have my Soul Eater story! So I hope you guys read that too (btw, I only have 1 chapter).

But anyhow, as updates are coming in like a snail…..I HOPE YOU ENJOY! *bows really low*

Chapter 15 Trickery:

"So….? You and Hitsugaya-taicho are a couple, right?" Rangiku chirped on the phone. I groaned.

"I already told you, YES. Every time you call me, that's the first thing you ask."

"Because it's so adorable and unbelievable that you and Hitsugaya-taicho are a 'thing', ya know?"

"Is it that hard to believe?" I asked. There was a brief silence. I rolled my eyes. "Ok then…"

Rangiku let out a small laugh.

"Well, I have to go. Orihime wants me to help her."

"Help her with what?"

"Oh…stuff."

"Stuff , eh?"

Another giggle and then she hung up. I put the phone on the desk as I thought of various scenarios of what Rangiku and Orihime was up to. Dear god, it better not be deadly….I laughed nervously. Hitsugaya would probably stop them before they do anything to me or anyone else. It's amazing how I'm speaking about Rangiku and Orihime in a criminal fashion. How horrible.

I looked at the ceiling. I was, once again, bored out of my mind so I let out a sigh. Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to use some of my extra money to do a tiny bit of shopping.

I put on my shoes and walked out of the hotel.

The streets were FILLED with people. I started to feel bad for those who are nostalgic. As hours past, I felt like someone was behind me. By the time I had finished my shopping, it was night fall. The amount of people slowed, so it wasn't very crowded. Whatever I was feeling, it wasn't a good feeling. I gripped on the bag handle and took a quick turn to one of the alley ways. Stupid, I know. But would it be right to fight this person who I thought was behind me in front of everyone and look like I have a mental disorder and is hallucinating? Uh…no way.

As I walked through the alley way, I started to hear footsteps and that's when I sensed a strange spiritual pressure. Akemi-sama? No…that's not her spiritual pressure. It was someone else….but who? I stopped in my tracks and when I did, the footsteps stopped.

"Who are you?" I asked, my back probably facing the person. There was a silence. "I can sense your spiritual pressure."

The person behind me stepped up. "Prepare to die."

I quickly spun around and dodged a dagger that would have hit my back. I grabbed the person's back collar and spun the person at the wall. Wow, my gigai got some strength! I quickly searched through my pockets for soul candy. Then, something struck me.

"I LEFT MY SOUL CANDY AT HOME!" I yelled mentally, though I bet my face showed it. After realizing that, I looked up and saw the attacker stand up. My eyes widened. It was an arrancar! Ok, first, don't you all think that I'm the stupidest person in the universe now? I'm guessing so…I'M FIGHTING AN ARRANCAR AND I DON'T HAVE ANY SOUL CANDY!

The arrancar stood up and I could finally see a better image of her. She wore a white sleeveless dress, ending up to her thighs. She wore white boots with black outlines on the sides. Her hollow mask fragment was formed as a beaded necklace. Her hollow hole was on her upper left arm. The girl glared at me.

"Impressive, a gigai actually threw me." She responded coolly, but her voice would say otherwise. "Time to die, shinigami."

She took out her zanpakuto, which was securely kept on her left hip, and swung towards me. I quickly dodged the swings.

"Bakudo number 4 hainawa!" I yelled and a light rope lashed towards her. As she struggled to break free, I quickly ran off. I had to call Hitsugaya. I dug through my pocket and took out my phone and dialed his number.

"Hitsugaya!" I yelled through the phone.

"Hikari? Why the h*ll are you calling me at this time?" Hitsugaya asked, obviously annoyed.

"First of all, let me ask, HOW THE H*LL DO YOU NOT FEEL ANY SPIRTUAL PRESSURE?!"

"What the heck are you talking about, Hikari?"

I stopped running. "An arrancar just attacked me."

There was a sudden silence….a very uncomfortable silence.

"Are you alright?" He asked, but I could tell that there was worry in his voice. I let out a sigh.

"Yeah….just barely though."

"Wait, did you bring your soul candy with you?" When I said nothing, Hitsugaya groaned.

"You're stupid."

"I know. But I manage."

"Go to Inoue's house. We need to talk."

"So serious now?"

"Now."

XxXxXxX

I knocked on Orihime's door. Rangiku opened the door. She held a sake bottle

"Hey, Hikari." She said, her voice completely slurred.

"Rangiku-san…are you ok? Actually…should you be drinking sake? Especially when Hitsugaya is, well, around."

She burst out laughing. "Taicho aint here. He's on the roof."

"Um…."

"Hahahahahaha! Maybe he'll grow wings and fly back to Seireitei! Hahahahahahaha!"

I quickly walked back and jumped onto the roof. Rangiku was right. He was sitting on the roof, staring at the dark abyss. I walked towards him.

"Good evening, Hitsugaya." I replied and sat next to him. He sighed.

"You're an idiot. You fought an ARRANCAR with only a GIGAI. That's IMPOSSIBLE."

"Soooo? Maybe I was just lucky."

"Even so. You could have died."

"But I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Hitsugaya sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Just be careful next time…idiot."

I laughed and shook Hitsugaya's hair. "I will, Shiro-chan."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

I laughed and jumped off the roof. "See ya!"

He gave a small and quick wave and walked off. I pouted. Butt head.

XxXxXx

I arrived at the hotel at around 8. Though it was still early, I was seriously tired. I was just glad that arrancar wasn't around. Well….that's what I thought. When I opened the door, the girl was sitting on my bed. Let's press the pause button for just a minute. Think about what you would feel when some random stranger, boy or girl, was sitting on your bed, looking right at you.

How would you feel? Freaked, invaded, and thinking that this stranger is probably going to do stuff to you or worse, kill you? Well, that's EXCACTLY what I felt in those very few moments. Ok, you can press play.

"We're not done, Kaori." The arrancar said. I took a step back. I shifted my eyes and caught a quick glance of my soul candy on my jacket pocket. Suddenly, the arrancar took out her zanpakuto and ran towards me. I turned in a 180 degree and took out the soul candy in my candy pocket. I popped one in my mouth and went into my shinigami state.

"Would you like me to go?" My gigai asked. I nodded, taking out my zanpakuto and clashed at the arrancar.

"Lets' take this outside." I yelled. The arrancar smirked.

"So be it." She jumped and kicked my stomach. I flew back and was now falling from the 4th story. I landed on the concrete…hard. I stood up and saw the arrancar jump from the balcony.

"Burn, YasuSuzume!" I commanded. We clashed again.

"How do you know my name?" I asked; my grip on the hilt was growing harder.

"I have my ways. The name is Lita. Prepare to die."

She swung her sword downwards, missing me by a millimeter at the least.

"_Should I use my bankai now?_" I thought. I heard a small laugh.

"_Well duh! We need to kill this girl."_" Yasusuzume replied. I rolled my eyes and dashed towards Lita again. She dodged and tried to stab my chest. I blocked it quickly. As we repeated this method over and over, I began to wonder why the others weren't coming. Couldn't they sense that this is an arrancar? Can't their hollow phone thing sense that a hollow, aka arrancar, is fighting me?!

"Are you curious on why your little shinigami friends aren't coming?" Lita asked as we clashed again. I tightened my grip and glared.

"You shinigami aren't the only ones who can hide their spiritual pressure." Lita laughed and added more power to her zanpakuto. I kept my stance but I could feel myself going back.

"_I can't believe I'm saying this…but I need Hitsugaya-kun here now._" I thought bitterly. Suddenly, I heard:

"Sozen Ni Zase, Hyourinmaru!"

I jumped back using shunpo and landed on my butt. I looked up and saw Lita frozen in a block of ice. I stood up and saw Hitsugaya and Rangiku walking towards me, Hitsugaya's hands crossed.

"And why didn't you call us?" Rangiku asked. I brushed some hair off my face and sighed.

"Various reasons…." I mumbled. Rangiku shook her head and helped me up.

"You're such a troublesome person."

"Likewise, Rangiku-san."

Suddenly, a strong spiritual pressure was being felt suddenly. The 3 of us turned around and saw Akemi break the ice with her bare hands.

"Good evening, Hitsugaya-taicho, Lieutenant Matsumoto, Kaori." Akemi said. My grip loosened but I felt Rangiku grab my wrist.

Lita feel onto the ground and gasped for air. Suddenly, Akemi kicked her in the face.

"How dare you make me come here and save you." Akemi said her voice dark and hard. It was the complete opposite of the Akemi I knew many years ago; light and kind. Lita got down on her knees.

"Forgive me, Akemi-sama." Lita murmured. Akemi turned and sighed.

"Aizen-sama will be very upset."

I couldn't listen to this chit-chat anymore. I shunpoed towards Akemi and applied my spiritual pressure onto my blade. Before I could even touch her, Akemi grabbed the blade and stared at me.

"Do you plan to hurt me with this toy?" Akemi asked, her grip onto the blade getting harder. Suddenly, she threw my zanpakuto and me 50+ feet away from her. When I got up, the two were gone. I made a fist and slammed it onto the concrete.

"She got away." I said, more to myself than anyone else. Rangiku helped me up, again.

"Taicho is tracing them." Rangiku said. I frowned.

"They probably returned to Hueco Mundo or something…." I replied. I massaged my temples. "I'm going back to my hotel room…."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with us?"

"Why?"

"Well, the two might come back."

"….."

"I know you can take care of yourself, that's why taicho made you third seat. But I, we, don't want to take any chances."

"Is it because of the strength difference that was just shown?"

"……of course not."

I glared and turned. "I'm going back to my hotel room. Good night."

I turned to shunpoed back to my room. Apparently, my gigai had cleaned the room. She turned and smiled.

"It's good to see you, ma'am." My gigai replied. I sighed.

"Thanks for helping…" I went into my gigai and plopped into my bed. I began to review the fight that happened only a few minutes ago.

"_Do you plan to hurt me with this toy_?"

I grabbed a pillow and put it over my head.

"I need to get stronger…." I mumbled. I felt a fiery presence.

"It's because you didn't use your bankai." Yasusuzume stated. I groaned.

"Do you WANT me to be burn the entire town to the ground?"

"Please, you're not like that old Captain Commander."

"Well….either way, I'm not ready to show it."

"Bleh! 'I'm not ready to show it' my *ss. You're just a coward who doesn't want to show it, especially in front of your _boyfriend_."

"Will quiet taunting me already? I'm not in the mood, YasuSuzume."

She scoffed and her fiery presence disappeared. Thank god it's over.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's note: Hey guys! What's up? Well, sorry for the generally slow updates. I hope I'm not upsetting too many of you. I've been busy with my own, personal life and I also have an amv (animated music video) promise to my youtube fans as well. So don't be too upset.

Within the news and stuff, I made a Soul Eater story, if you haven't read that yet. There's only one chapter but I'll update on it when I can….the big words are "WHEN I CAN."

Another piece of news is that my FMA oneshot/story is 50% done. Once again, I've been busy with life so it's hard to stay constant on that.

Lastly, I've been making amvs for fanfictions that I personally think is totally cool. If you think your fanfiction deserves an amv, just PM me. Rules are on my profile. Yes, I do have rules. ^_^

Oh, and quick note: I've decided not to name my chapters anymore. _ I never seem to have a name for each one…so…for this chapter, there is no name as well as the upcoming chapters…

Chapter 16:

"Taicho, do you think Hikari is alright?" Matsumoto asked. Hikari has been acting strange since that arrancar/traitor came last night. To be honest, I wasn't sure. But of course, I'm not telling Matsumoto that.

"Of course she is." I replied.

"Huff, but it's obvious that something is in her head. We need to at least talk to her…."

"It's probably not a good time to talk to her about that. Anyways, we have other things to worry about, Matsumoto." I walked towards the screen that was centered in Inoue's room. "Captain-Commander is going to call us soon."

"Oh, if that's the case, shouldn't we call Hikari?"

I shrugged. "Do what you want."

Rangiku walked out as I stared out the window.

"Hikari…."

XxXxX

I was busy writing the report when I heard my cell. It was Rangiku, since I gave Rangiku a specific ringtone. I looked at the phone for a little bit, picked it up, and answered.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hikari, Captain-Commander is going to call us for something."

"And I should give a care….how?"

"What?"

"Look, I'm writing the report. Just….tell me what happened."

"Wait, shouldn't Taicho be the one to write the report?"

"So? I'll do it for him."

"That's nice and all but—"

"Matsumoto, Captain-Commander is on. C'mon." I heard Hitsugaya call out. Rangiku was silent for a moment.

"It's alright, Rangiku. I'll talk to you later."

Rangiku was about to speak again, but I hung up before she could say another word. I was silent for a moment, looking at the cell. I sighed and put it back beside my soul candy. I felt the same fiery presence again.

"What's your problem?" YasSuzume asked. I twitched.

"Look, I'm just not in the mood. Does that not seem to get in your head?"

She let out a sigh of frustration. "You've been so quiet lately and now you're writing a report for Captain-Commander which is supposed to Hitsugaya's job? I mean, c'mon! That's not you!"

"Well, people change."

"….Is this about Akemi?"

"No."

"Well, that was an immediate answer."

"Cause I made up my mind." I dropped my pen and stood up. "Akemi is the enemy. She is part of Aizen's army now…and you know what that means."

YasuSuzume smirked and brought her hands behind her head. "We get to kick her sorry little butt?"  
"Exactly." I let out a small smile and sat back down. "Anyways, I need to finish this."

"Still…it's weird that you're doing this."

"Well, let's just say that I owe Hitsugaya…"

XxXxX

A few minutes later, I had finished writing that f-ing thing you call a report and folded it into my bag. There was no way I was going to keep it into my possession. I'm going to let Hitsugaya keep it and worry about it so then if HE loses it, then I can blame HIM instead of him blaming ME. I grabbed my shoes and walked out of the hotel.

XxXxX

I arrived at Inoue's street minutes later when I saw Inoue run out of her house. I quickly stopped her.

"Orihime, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I have to go find Kurosaki-kun." She responded.

"Why?"

Suddenly, Orihime told me what Captain-Commander had told Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, and herself. As I listened, I began to think. That's Aizen's plan…to make the Royal key and that would mean destroying Karakura Town and the citizens that resides in it. After Orihime finished and leave, I ran inside the house and saw Rangiku walk out.

"So, you did come." Rangiku said and added a small laugh. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm just a little late." I responded. As Rangiku nodded and leave, I heard her say:

"As always."

I ignored that statement and walked into the room that Rangiku came out of. I saw Hitsugaya talking to Hinamori. Hinamori's eyes brightened when I came in while Hitsugaya's eyes widened.

"Hikari, what are you—" Hitsugaya started but didn't finish when Hinamori started talking.

"Hikari-chan, I'm glad to see you." Hinamori said. I smiled.

"Heh, you took my line." Hinamori laughed and I continued. "I'm just glad that you're ok."

I noticed that Hinamori's eyes were a little bit red. She was probably crying a while ago. I shifted my eyes to Hitsugaya and he probably read my mind because he looked away. I sighed and looked back at Hinamori.

"Isn't it a bit too soon for you to wake up, though?" I asked.

"It is…but….um…." Hinamori looked down. Hitsugaya and I looked at her, our concern and worry rose. "Hitsugaya-kun….Hikari-chan….are you two going to kill Aizen-taicho?"

When Hinamori said that, I could feel the tension rise 10 fold.

"Hinamori…!" Hitsugaya and I said under out breath at the same time, with the same intensity.

"I know!" Hinamori said suddenly. "Aizen-taicho was tricked by Ichimaru-taicho to—"

Suddenly, Captain-Commander put his hand in front of Hinamori's eyes, causing her to black out.

"I'm sorry, Hitsugaya-taicho, 3rd seat Kaori, it seems that it is too soon." He said as the Lieutenant quickly grabbed her before she fell. To a change of quick topic, I always forget his name; maybe because I don't see him very often.

I nodded solemnly and Hitsugaya bowed. "Thank you Captain-Commander."

"Hitsugaya-taicho.." But before Captain-Commander could finish, his image disappeared. There was a silence between us.

"Hitsugaya-kun…" I murmured. But Hitsugaya didn't seem to hear and made a fist.

"Aizen…."

I stared at him, worried. Since I decided not to say anything more, I left him as it is. I was about to leave, but Hitsugaya-kun stopped me.

"Hikari, do you have the report?" He asked. I was surprised how he changed his mood, but it's Toushiro Hitsugaya. He's ALWAYS surprising. I looked into my bag and took out the folded report.

"There. I don't get how you do it. It kills your fingers!"

"That's because you're not used to it." He scanned the report. "Did you rush this?"

"Eh? Of course not!"

"Ahem… 'Two arrancars arrived and attacked Kaori Hikari, 3rd seat of Squad 10, who has no relationship with the two.' Do you really want to put that in a report to Captain-Commander?"

"Well, I don't want him to think something's up…"

"You really are that stupid, aren't you?"

"Shut up."

Hitsugaya smirked, walked to a desk and took out another sheet of paper. "I'm gonna re-write this."

"Eh?! C'mon! I put all my hard work on that cruddy piece of paper! If you're re-writing it, my work just went down the drain!"

"And I should care….how?"

"Cause I'm you're third seat—"

"Matsumoto is my lieutenant and I have to re-write her 'hard work'"

"And I'm your girlfriend! Ha! Beat that, Hitsugaya!"

"Boyfriends don't have to always listen to their girlfriend's complaints."

"Gr….You suck!"

Hitsugaya ignored the statement and started writing. I wanted to retort me, believe me. But since it would lead to no avail on my side…I decided to give up. Besides, I had other things to worry about.

"Well, I better get going. I need to start on my training…"

"Hikari, you need to stay here." I stopped at the door and turned. Hitsugaya didn't look up from his paper, but he stopped writing for this moment.

"Why? I'm capable of being by myself."

"Look, if Akemi or her friend comes back, you…." He paused. "Might not be able to keep yourself from danger."

"What? Are you saying that I'm weak? Is that it?"  
"No, you idiot. You're overreacting. Just for now, until we get some clues, I need you to stay either through my supervision or Matsumoto's…"

"Look, like I said before, I can keep myself from danger. And this time," I took out my soul candy from my pocket. "I'm prepared. I'm not an idiot."

He sighed. "I'm just trying to protect you…"

That's when I knew what he was thinking: "Because I couldn't protect Hinamori." I looked down, starting to feel guilty of what had happened. I looked at Hitsugaya.

"I understand. But don't worry, Hitsugaya-kun." I walked over to where he is and kissed him on the forehead. "I've gotten stronger."

Hitsugaya looked up, startled and as fast as it came, it was replaced with calm demure and he smiled. "I can see that, Hikari."

I smiled back and walked out of the house, grateful that the guilt began to fade away.

XxXxX

"Aw, how cute." YasuSuzume said. I scoffed.

"Quiet."

"You kissed him on the forehead and gave him a positive comment and all in all, it was so adorable!"

"Ugh, will you be quiet for a minute!"

"Bleh, you should just be lucky that I didn't appear suddenly during you and Hitsugaya's adorable conversation and went 'aw' and stuff."

"….."

"That's right." I rolled my eyes and continued walking. Yeah, it was cute. Not my kind of thing. But who gives a crud. I was just being kind…

XxXxX

"Akemi-sama, I'm so sorry…" I said.

"Lita…I have another mission." Akemi-sama responded. I looked up.

"M-Ma'am?"

"Don't make me repeat myself again, you have another mission. But this time…" Akemi-sama turned to face me. "I suggest you not fail."

Something in Akemi's eyes made me feel uncomfortable. She turned back around and walked down the hallway. When she left, I stood there, trying to regain my composure. Whatever the case may be, I must not fail.

I looked out the window. Hueco Mundo was such a depressing place. It's pretty much like hell without the fires. I heard footsteps coming towards me, so I turned my head. It was Apache….

"Well, well, well…look who I found." Apache taunted.

"Don't make me cut you alive." I replied. Apache smirked.

"Please, Lita. Don't make me laugh! You got your butt kicked by a third seat shinigami!"

"I just went easy on her."

"Oh really?"

"I didn't activate my resurreccion." I responded, my patience decreasing and my anger rising.

"Ha! Maybe you should have!" Apache walked closer. I glared at her.

"Are you…saying something, Apache?"

"I don't know…what do you think I'm saying, Lita?"

By then, Apache was right in front of me, face to face. We stared at each other as our hands started to move towards our zanpakuto. Finally, before both of us could lash at each other, we felt a strong spiritual pressure. We turned and saw 5th espada, Jiruga Nnoitra. He saw us and laughed.

"Well, well, well, looks like I arrived at a perfect time. A b*tch fight was about to start!" He laughed again. "Well? Aren't you going to start?"

We both looked at each other. Suddenly, we felt another spiritual pressure, one I recognized immediately. I mentally smirked.

"What are you doing here, Nnoitra?" Akemi-sama said; her voice cool yet had a strong bang into it. Nnoitra frowned and turned to face Akemi-sama. I noticed that she was wearing a white coat, but the sleeves were completely black.

"Oh, just walking around when I saw your fraccion and Hailabel's fraccion almost start a fight."

"I see…." Akemi-sama let out a small sigh. "Thank you for telling me. Lita, come. I need you."

"Y-Yes ma'am." I quickly walked towards Akemi-sama, mentally thanking her for getting me out of that situation. She turned, started walking away and I followed.

"Lita, report." Akemi-sama said when we turned to the next hallway.

"Um, well, Apache, 3rd Espada Hailabel's fraccion, came and started taunting me about the mission. I don't know how they know about it…but nevertheless…I fell for the taunt and almost drew out my zanpakuto when 5th espada Nnoitra came and he seemed to taunt us as well, wanting us to fight until you came."

Akemi-sama nodded. "I see. Thank you, Lita."

We continued walking in silence. That's when I realized: I have no clue where Akemi-sama's espada tattoo is as well as her hollow hole. When I was assigned to be the fraccion of the 7th espada, I was so excited that I didn't care about those details. Now, I'm curious where those were.

"Ma'am…" I said, breaking the strange silence. "May I ask you a question?"

Though Akemi-sama was cruel and mean to enemies, heck, she even kicked me in the face (which by the way, still hurts), but she was kind behind the scenes.

"Yes." She responded. I took a deep breath.

"I haven't seen your espada tattoo and your hollow hole…"

"And you wish to see it?" She finished my sentence before I could finish it. I waited as she pondered. She stopped in her tracks, as did I.

"Of course." She turned her head. "It's not fair for me to not show these two important things to my fraccion."

For a brief moment, I thought I saw Akemi-sama smile. Yes, smile! But as fast and sudden as it came, the same quantity was the same as it left. I nodded as we walked into her office. She took off her coat and signaled me to come close. I walked closer and she told me to lock the door and pull the blinds. I was curious why this was such a secret, but then again, the majority of the men here can be a bit…..well, immoral so wherever her hollow hole and her tattoo may be, it must be in a place where…well, never mind. Ignore that. Anyways, When I had done so, Akemi-sama then pulled up her shirt just a bit so I could see her tattoo, which was on her right side that showed number 7. Then, she took off both of her boots and I noticed that both of her knees had a hollow hole, which was very unusual. I noticed that her face went dark when she saw her hollow hole. After a moment, she put it back on.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" I asked, worried. She let out a sighed, and looked up.

"Of course not, Lita." She turned around and pushed the blinds away. She stared outside for a while until she continued speaking. "Every day, when I wake up and look out the window, I wonder 'who's side should we be following?' and I would ponder this question constantly. Then…I would remember….things." She put her hand on her forehead. "It's so hard to describe…what I think at these times."

"Akemi-sama…if I may ask, do you know anything of your past life? When…well, you were alive?"

She removed her hand from her forehead and looked up. "Maybe another time, Lita. But for now…" She turned to face me. "You must be getting ready for the mission. After the whole Apache incident, I'm guessing you are a bit tired."

I let out a small chuckle. "Indeed."

"I shall take care of that. Now go on. You need the rest."

I smiled, nodded, and walked out.

XxXxXx

I stood there, looking out the window. The reasons as to why I couldn't tell Lita were obvious. If anyone aside from Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tousen knew that I was a former shinigami, they would look down on me. They would think I am a traitor. I looked down.

"Hikari…I gave you a chance to get out of this mess…" I said to myself. "Now look what's happening to you. You're heading to hell if you don't…." I closed my eyes. Hikari, my proud little pupil, was going into hell. I can't let that happen…but the only way is to force her into safety.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. This caught me by surprise, but for only a mere second. As a former lieutenant of Squad 2, I knew surprise and how to react to it. I regained my composure and turned to face the door.

"Come in." I called. The door opened and Tia Hailabel came inside. Tia became a good friend of mine after I became 7th espada.

"Good evening, Usagi-san." Tia said. I smiled.

"Good evening, Tia-san. How are things?"

"As always, fine. Well, except for what happened with Apache and your fraccion."

I motioned her to sit. "I understand. I don't know what those two have. Some invisible rivalry I suppose."

"That's what I thought. But I want to give my dearest apologies for her actions."

"Oh, no, it's ok. I wish to give you my dearest apology myself. If those two started a fight, it would very horrible upon them…and upon ourselves."

"Yes. I'm glad you stopped it in time."

"Actually, Nnoitra did."

Hailabel looked at me, a bit confused. "Impossible. You are talking about 5th espada Nnoitra?"

I nodded. "Apparently, he had come before something happened. The girls were probably scared…I wouldn't be surprised."

"Hm, he was probably going to get the girls to fight then he would use that to bring our ranks down. He's always been that way."

"I noticed. Does he have an issue with girls being part of the Espada ranks?"

Hailabel shrugged. "I am not sure, but it's a possibility." There was a brief silence until she started again. "There has been something bothering you. Is there something wrong?"

"No, not at all." I forced a smile. "Besides, we are getting ready for a war, soon…aren't we? Against those shinigami?"

"Yes."

"What is your opinion on that?"

"Honestly, whatever Aizen-sama says, I shall agree upon."

I looked down, smirking. "Heh…you know, we could be walking to our deaths…"

"Possibly."

"And that still won't change your opinion?"

"No. I will be risking my life to a person who could overthrow the Royal Squad…he could become a God."

I sighed. "Great…"

"Is there something wrong about that, Usagi?"

"No…no…nothing. Nothing at all."

"You seem unsure of that."

A silence fell upon us.

"I don't know what to feel about all of this, Tia." I responded slowly. "Honestly, I never planned on being an espada in the first place."

"Then why are you one?"

"…Aizen-sama gave me this rank because…." I looked down. "Because he knew my power could be used in 'better ways'"

"So why didn't you decline this offer?"

"I…don't know."

But truthfully, I knew why. I did know. Another silence fell upon the room, but it was very strange. I closed my eyes and tried to remember when I first met Aizen in Hueco Mundo.

-flashback-

I was traveling in the sand, my zanpakuto still at my side.

"That man should go through d*nmnation." I mumbled to myself. I had fought against Aizen but was killed in a flash. I rememberd what he said to me as I feel to the ground:

'This is the lieutenant of Squad 2, Akemi Usagi. The fastest and strongest lieutenant Soul Society has to offer. And now….she's gone.'

'Aizen…you son of a….'

I couldn't even finish my dang sentence. I stopped walking and sat in the sand, my stamina drained. Hueco Mundo was a really dreadful place. I could hardly stand it.

"Hikari…please be ok." I thought. The poor girl. She's so young and she was going to fight against this man that Soul Society has no hope in winning. Suddenly, I collapsed, my vision turning black. My stamina must have been really drained. Crap…

XxXxX

I woke up again, when I felt someone nudge at me. I opened my eyes and saw a dog. Then I noticed, it was an ordinary dog. I shot up quickly. I was in a large room, pillars of different sizes around the room. It was unusually dark at the top of the pillar and it was also unusual that the only lighting was towards me. I was still in my shinigami uniform, thank god. My zanpakuto was also beside me.

"It's good that you woke up, Lieutenant Akemi." Suddenly, I turned around and was facing the new Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tousen. Aizen was sitting in the front, looking down at me. I glared, grabbed my zanpakuto, and shunpoed towards him. By the time I reached him, I had my zanpakuto at his throat but Ichimaru and Tousen also made it at the same time I did, for their zanpakuto tip was at my torso, ready to pierce me when I pierce Aizen. My grip was steady and I didn't falter. I could kill him, right now.

"Do you know where you are?" Aizen asked.

"Hueco Mundo. I'm not a fool."

"No, I mean…" He smirked. "Do you know where you are?"

He had repeated the question. I was about to respond and give the same answer, but then I noticed what he meant. I looked around. I hated to admit it, but I didn't know where I was.

"Where am I, Aizen?" I asked, adding extra hardness in my voice.

"Welcome to Las Noches, Lieutenant Akemi."

I glared and my grip grew harder.

"If you did anything to my squad captain or to Kaori, I swear that I will kill you right now."

"Of course not. I haven't done anything to them…at least, yet."

My rage increased as the tip of the sword touched Aizen's neck. But at the same time, I felt the tip of Ichimaru and Tousen's sword.

"Now, now, don't get too aggravated. I have a proposition for you, Lieutenant."

I looked at him carefully, making sure he wasn't lying.

"And what would that be, Aizen?" I asked slowly.

"If you decide to drop all alliances to Soul Society and be part of my arrancar army-"

"DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU RIGHT HERE ON THE SPOT, AIZEN?!" I yelled.

"My, it seems your temper has increased ever since you died." Ichimaru responded with a sigh. I turned to face him.

"You better be quiet, Ichimaru! After what you did to Rangiku, I wouldn't be talking!"

Ichimaru opened his eyes, allowing me to see his red pupils. I thought for a second he was going to kill me, since his eyes showed that intent. But he closed his eyes instead and smirked.

"Feisty, I see…" Ichimaru responded. There was a quick silence until Aizen continued.

"You didn't let me finish, Lieutenant. As I was saying, If you decide to drop all alliances to Soul Society and be part of my arrancar army…I will not harm your precious pupil and give you immense power that is unexplainable."

My eyes widened. Then, Aizen added, "Of course, unless you call the action. If you wish for me to hurt your pupil, then I-"

"I would never do that! Kaori is my best pupil I ever taught!"

"Then will you accept to those terms?"

"Thought Hikari is my favorite pupil….She is one person. Out of the entire Soul Society, there are more lives at stake."

"I see…So, let's say I go ahead and kill your old friend. I think his name was Masahiko Kagawa."

My eyes grew flames. "You wouldn't dare hurt Masahiko!"

"Now why wouldn't I? He's the lieutenant of squad one. And if I know your Captain-Commander correctly…I'm betting that he's going to bring his lieutenant to this battle as well. Without a doubt, your boyfriend is going to die."

From there, my arm started to shake. I glared at Aizen.

"HE DIDN'T DO ANYTING TO YOU! H*LL, HE WAS NEVER PART OF YOUR PLAN!"

"As a lieutenant of squad one, more over a shinigami, he is part of my plan."

I began to hyperventilate. I felt tears coming to my eyes.

"Well, lieutenant of squad two…what do you say to those means? If you don't release all alliance to Soul Society and be part of my arrancar army, you will not only lose your chance to gain power…but you will lose two of your dearest friends."

I bit my lip. The shinigami side of me wanted to say no; she was strong and had confidence. The normal person in me was on her knees, saying yes over and over. There was a long, scary silence. Then, I made my choice. I moved my zanpakuto away from Aizen's neck and dropped it. Ichimaru and Tousen slowly moved their zanpakuto away from my torso.

"I accept those terms, Ai-"

"If you do, you must call him Aizen-sama." Tousen responded, adding the honorific. I winced but continued to be strong.

"I accept those terms, Aizen-sama." The last part came out hard, bitter, and disgusted. But it was subtle, that only Aizen noticed it. But he didn't frown. Instead, he smiled.

"Ichimaru, show our new ally to the hollowification room."

"Sure thing, Aizen-taicho." Ichimaru said and turned. I gave Aizen one last glare, turned, and followed Ichimaru.

"I can't believe this is happening…" I thought. "What have I done? Stupid, Stupid, Stupid…."

"Hey, ya do know that you're dead back at Soul Society, right?" Ichimaru said, interrupting my thoughts. I looked up.

"Yeah, I know. Aizen killed me." I responded bluntly. Ichimaru sighed.

"If you're gonna be here, and be more like an ally, you gotta at least call him Aizen-sama. You were always an idiot when it came to adding honorifics."

"Don't tempt me, Ichimaru."

"What ya gonna do? You don't got your zanpakuto with ya."

"Remember, I was part of squad two. I know how to use shunko."

"Eh? Really? Is it perfected?"

"Took me my entire free time, which was a lot…in other words, it took maybe 50 years to get it perfected."

'"I thought Taichos could only use that."

"You underestimate me, Gin." I paused for a brief moment when he stopped walking. "I may just be a lieutenant, but I am the niece of—"

Suddenly, we heard footsteps. I turned my head and saw two figures running towards us. With their speed, I thought they were going to pass us. But instead, they stopped when they saw me.

"A SHINIGAMI!" One of the figures yelled. Before it lashed at me, Ichimaru used his shinso to slice the two figures. My eyes widened.

"It's best if no one knows you're here." Ichimaru said. "Ya know how to conceal your spiritual pressure?"

"Yeah."

"I suggest you do that before more of those come."

XxXxXx

I stared at the room. It was generally empty, almost the same as the other room except the pillars were square and there was nothing in the middle except for the…

"THE HOGYOKU!" I yelled. I was about to run to it, but Ichimaru stopped me.

"Remember those terms, Usagi."

"Hm, seems like you caught me."

We both walked towards the stone.

"The power to dissolve the boundaries of shinigami and hollow…also known as the orb of distortion. Amazing stone." I looked up and saw Aizen walk towards the stone. He nodded at Ichimaru, who in turn left the room.

"You're going to turn me into a hollow, aren't you?" I asked. Aizen smirked.

"No, but close. I shall turn you into an arrancar, merely a different type of hollow. You did agree to be part of my arrancar army. It would be foolish for you to be a shinigami."

"But you're a shinigami yourself, Aizen. You BETRAYED your own people."

"To seek the power that's needed to survive and rule this universe, Lieutenant."

"There are other ways to get through that…"

"If there were such tactics, then they are invalid."

He took the stone and looked at me.

"Lieutenant, I assume you are ready to give up your old life."

I took a deep breath. "Will I be able to remember everything from Soul Society?"

"Yes."

"….Then so be it." I stared at Aizen, this time, with a new kind of fire. Not rage, but courage. "To protect the people I love the most, then I will form the alliance."

In a flash, I felt a surge of pain stream through my veins. I didn't scream, but I will not lie that I was screaming in my head. The pain was close to unbearable. I collapsed on the floor. Memories from the time I arrived to Soul Society and suddenly became part of the Noble Family then moved to where I graduated Academy, then to where I became lieutenant of Squad 2 under Soifon. Then when I met Masahiko and soon fell in love. It was the most blissful moment I had ever felt. For a minute, the pain I felt dyed away. But just for a minute. Suddenly, more memories stormed in. When I met my pupil, Hikari, then to when I learned about Aizen's true intentions and what he really was, to where I died trying to foil his plans. It was like all those memories were stored in a huge memory box and kept in the back of my head. When the pain finally stopped, I felt like a new person…but in a really bad way. My shinigami uniform was close to being completely torn, I had two hollow holes, a number "7" tattoo on my side, and I had a hollow mask fragment around my neck, like a necklace. I looked up. Aizen was looking down at me, the smirk still on his face. Strangely, I didn't feel like attacking him. Usually, I would yet I didn't.

"I can now officially welcome you to my army, Lieutenant or better yet….7th Espada, Akemi Usagi."

I stood up and bowed.

"Thank you, Aizen-sama." That sentence came out a lot different. I would usually hold a grudge, especially to this man. Yet when I said that sentence, I sounded formal, and worse, grateful.

"What did he do to me?!" I thought. Yet my face was monotonous the entire time.

"You will be greeted to the other espadas later as well as get your fraccion. Tousen will show your room. I hope you enjoy your time."

-End Flashback-

Last Author Note!

Well, if you noticed….Akemi is the 7th espada! Well, guess what? I have taken out the 7th espada, Zommari Leroux. Y'know, the dude who fought Byakuya? Well, I find him…well, um…I just don't think he will be needed. SO just a little spoiler thing: Akemi shall replace the Zommari dude! ^_^ I hope that doesn't agitate anyone….

Also, another notice, is that I took out the lieutenant of squad one…Does anyone know that dude's name? Cause, I forgot. He's just….well, he pretty much never appears. So, I deem him as a small character. xD Besides, if the time comes that the lieutenant actually has some good use in him…then I'll give him a place. Don't worry. But since I thought that he wasn't much use, I used this chance to add in my own character. ^_^ So yeah, there are currently 4 OC's!

And whoop whoop! It's getting interesting, isn't it? I may end up giving an alternate ending, if needed. SO I HOPE YOU GUYS AREN'T MAD AT MEEE! Pleae review! ^_^ Thanks!


	17. Death Shakes Dragon

Author's note: Hey guys! This chapter will be the continuation of chapter 16. Since there were a lot of people that wanted me to name chapters, I'll name this chapter since I already have a good name in mind. xD I may or may not re-name chapter 16. If you guys have some suggestions, please tell me! ^_^

But I should go ahead and warn you guys: I am thinking of doing an alternate ending for this story. As you guys noticed, I'm already at the point where Captain-Commander told Hitsugaya, Inoue, and Matsumoto about Aizen's plans and stuff. So, if I keep going with this pace, I may end up doing an alternate ending. But at the same time, I may or may not do a sequel. So many people love the story, so there's a possible sequel. ^_^ Also, my goal is to finish this story at chapter 30. Short, I know. I'm sorry. But hey, that may or may not happen! Plus, I'm thinking doing some cute, "fluff" omakes just to give you guys something to read. ^^ But anyhow, I would love the reviews and critic. ^^ Though I've made many Naruto fanfics (their mainly on quizilla), Bleach fanfics, and a few Soul Eater and FMA fanfics, I'm not an expert. Lol. I'm just doing this because it's fun and it's a good hobby. Plus, it'll help during school (writing essays and doing papers are crudy to a lot of my classmates, I think it's as easy as baking cookies! xD). Anyways, I'll be quiet now. Enjoy chapter 17!!!

Oh, and sorry for the slow update...TT_TT

Chapter 17: Death shakes Dragon

"Usagi, are you ok?" Tia asked suddenly. I guess I was in a trance like state because Tia shook me. I blinked.

"Huh? Oh, Tia..."

"I thought you had gotten sick since your face showed distraught."

"Oh, forgive me. I didn't mean to do that." I looked down. "Anyways, to tell you the truth, the only reason why I didn't deny Aizen-sama is because….He was like a King and I thought it would be nice to be lead by a King, instead of being killed by one….."

Tia stood up. "It was nice talking to you, Usagi. But I must return to my fraccion. I hope you feel better."

I nodded. "I understand and thank you."

When Tia had left, I put my head down on the desk. Memories started to surge through my brain again. It felt good to remember things that I had forgotten that previous year, but at the same time, it hurt. My head was throbbing with pain, which I couldn't even explain. Maybe if I took a nap…maybe the pain would go away…

XxXxX

"Let them burn, Yasusuzume!" I commanded. The blade turned red and small sparks of fire formed around the sword. "Hey, that's new."

"Yeah, cause you finally got bankai…I thought maybe this would be a new thing." Yasusuzume replied.

"Well, thanks for that."

Though I wasn't supposed to be training while I'm in Karakura Town, I didn't give a crap. If I'm going to defeat Akemi, then I must get stronger. I took in a deep breath, and then sliced a few trees in one swing.

"Darn, my powers are neutralized…"

"Did you really just realize that, Hikari?" I turned around and saw Hitsugaya leaning on a tree, as usual. I made a face.

"Well, excuse me for my stupidity." I said sarcastically. Hitsugaya smirked and walked over to where I was.

"I told you to stay by someone's watch at all times." He said. I sighed.

"You're not my babysitter." I murmured.

"But I'm your captain and you're my third seat."

"Hmph…" I sheathed my zanpakuto, found my gigai, and went into it. "Hitsugaya-kun, do you think Akemi will come back?"

He sighed. "Yes. She will. That's why Matsumoto and I have decided to make sure you are safe."

I twitched. "I know you are trying to protect me and all, but could you please let me do as I please WITHOUT someone following me?"

"You're strong, I get it. You want to get stronger; I understand. You said that a thousand times already and it's getting on my own nerves. But you know what happened when she arrived. I'm not trying to pull you down or anything, Hikari but I'm only telling the truth."

I looked down. "I understand that I wasn't prepared. I thought she was the Akemi-sama I knew…but she isn't."

He frowned "I know she was your sensei during Academy years. I know she was the former lieutenant of squad 2. You adored her. She was your role model. When she died, it killed you internally. But you have to face the fact that she is part of Aizen's arrancar army. How she became that way, I don't know. As part of the Gotei 13, we have to kill her."

I winced. "I know that much."

Suddenly, I heard Hitsugaya sigh. "If you can't stand up to kill Akemi, then go back to Seireitei. As your captain and as a friend, I know you're going to have a hard time dealing with this."

I couldn't hold it in. I made a fist and slammed it in his face. "I CAN STAND UP FOR MYSELF! WHEN THE TIME COMES, I'LL KILL HER MYSELF!"

Hitsugaya sat up and smirked. "Glad to hear."

I blinked. "What?"

"Are you deaf? I said I'm glad to hear." He touched his cheek. "Though, did you have to punch me that hard?"

Then, that's when it hit me. Hitsugaya equals captain. He has amazing reflexes. Even from that distance, he could deflect that punch like it was nothing. Yet he ALLOWED me to punch him. I blinked again.

"Sorry…" I murmured. Then, I let out a sigh. "I give up. Since you're a captain and since Matsumoto is a lieutenant and I'm just a third seat. You guys are a rank higher than me. I'll let you keep any eye on me…As long as I can train peacefully."

"Agreed." Hitsugaya and I shook hands on it. "What are you going to do now?"

"Well, before YOU came along, I was thinking of training the entire day. But I guess I'll go and randomly do something."

"Alright."

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"I already finished the report. I don't think there's anything left for me to do. Usually, I go and sit at the park and watch the sunset. But since it's still early in the afternoon, I don't have anything else to do."

"Well, that's nice. Hm, I guess we can do that later. But I guess-"

Suddenly, both Hitsugaya's and my phone gave the hollow ringtone. Er, well, MY hollow ringtone. We both took out our phone and flipped it open.

"There's a hollow close to where you and that other arrancar fought." Hitsugaya said quickly. I stuffed my phone into my pocket and replaced it with soul candy. I quickly ate a piece and went to my shinigami state. I turned to my gigai.

"Meet me at Inoue's house. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am!" The gigai rushed away and by that time, Hitsugaya was already on his way to the area. I used shunpo to catch up to him.

XxXxXx

I arrived at the hotel where I had fought that Hikari girl.

"The hollow has been released…" I thought. "Akemi-sama will be so proud of me when my plan works out!"

When I felt the shinigami's spiritual pressure, I suppressed mine and slowly crept into the shadows. My plan: To get the shinigami to lose her stamina and then when she's too weak to fight, I'll destroy her! Sly, yes…but it's effective. Every fighter knows that much.

XxXxX

Hitsugaya and I arrived at the hotel. A huge hollow was standing before us.

"Dang it." I said with aggravation. "I thought it would be that arrancar chick!"

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and took out his zanpakuto. "If that's the case, would you rather let me fight the hollow or-"

"No, no. I'll kill it." I took out my zanpakuto and dashed towards the hollow. "Let them burn, Yasusuzume!"

The blade turned bloody red and sliced the hollow in half. I landed gracefully and gave Hitsugaya a cocky look.

"Too easy."

Suddenly, I heard another loud hollow scream. Hitsugaya and I looked up and saw bunches of hollows appearing from the sky.

"Aw sh*t." I cursed.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!" Hitsugaya commanded and his zanpakuto formed a massive ice dragon thing. I cursed again under my breath. It was below zero degrees and I was freezing my frickin butt off and I bet he wants me to die of frostbite.

In a flash, Hitsugaya froze all of the hollows. He turned his head.

"Wanna finish it off?"

I grimaced. "Y-Yeah….S-Sure….L-Let them burn, Y-YasuSuzume!"

A huge blast of fire shot towards the frozen hollows, and soon enough, they were destroyed instantly.

Little prickles of snow started to fall from the sky, making my condition worse. I sneezed.

"I HATE THIS!" I yelled. "It's too cold!"

"I would like to say the same thing to you except changing that last line. It was too hot when you used your zanpakuto." Hitsugaya complained, which was very rare coming from the miniature captain's mouth.

"I only used my shikai!"

"Yeah, same here."

I glared. "Whatever."

XxXxXx

I grimaced at this sight. I had brought all the hollows that I could summon and they were defeated without any pure effort! Akemi-sama had given me another chance to defeat this shinigami and what did I do? I not only wasted it, but now she will kill me in a flash! Oh, what am I to do? I can't return back to Hueco Mundo! I have to finish this. But with that white haired captain in the way, I'll never be able to even touch her! Unless….

I called in the next set of hollows, but in two different areas, each on different sides of the town. I looked at where the pair stood.

"What? MORE HOLLOWS?!" Hikari yelled. The captain shrugged.

"You take the west side. I'll take the east. We'll meet up at Inoue's house."

They dispersed. I smirked and knew that Hikari was going into her own demise. Though, the name Inoue sounded familiar. Where have I heard that name before….Hm, well, no need to ponder about that now. I turned and dashed towards the west side of town.

XxXxX

Hollows, hollows, hollows. Too many hollows! I was on my way to the west side of Karakura town when I bumped into Matsumoto.

"Rangiku-san!" I exclaimed. Rangiku brushed the dirt off her uniform.

"Hikari-san! What are you doing here?"

"Going to fight some hollows!"

"Wait, do you want me to come with you?"

"No! Maybe Hitsugaya will need your assistance! Now if you would excuse me!" I dashed past the ginger haired girl and went towards the direction of the hollows. They were already attacking people, so I had to make this quick. But there were so many of them! I can't defeat them with my shikai alone….

"C'mon! Let's use the bankai!" YasuSuzume chirped. "No one is here to see it!"

I pondered about it for a quick moment and agreed. I pointed my zanpakuto to the front.

"Bankai!" The sense of adrenaline zoomed into my veins. "TaiyouSuzume!" A blast of fire exploded from my zanpakuto and swirled onto the blade. I shifted my stance and pointed the blade at the hollows.

"Fire blast!" I large circle formed, surrounded the hollows, and destroyed them. I looked around to see if there was more. I sensed no one…or so I thought. I returned my zanpakuto to its unreleased state and put it back into its sheath.

"That took too much energy…" I thought to myself. Suddenly, an immense amount of spiritual pressure was sensed. Before I could do anything, I felt something stab through me. I gasped.

"Heh, looks like I caught you." I heard Lita murmur into my ear.

"You son of a B*tch…" I murmured back and fell onto the ground.

XxXxX

I finally did it….I killed her! I KILLED HIKARI! I smiled. Now I can return to Hueco Mundo with a good feeling that I had finished the job.

XxXxX

"Taicho, are you ok?" Matsumoto asked. I looked around. We had destroyed all the hollows in the east side of town, but during that time, I felt a strong spiritual pressure. I knew it was Hikari when she activated her bankai but there was another one…..

"Something is wrong, Matusmoto." I replied. I tried to sense Hikari's spiritual pressure, but I didn't sense it. Suddenly, worry shook my all other. I turned to face Matusmoto.

"We need to go now!" I used shunpo to dash towards the west side of town.

XxXxX

I had never seen Taicho so shook up in my entire life. He was sweating and his face showed fear. As we were dashing towards the west side of town, Taicho was getting faster that even I couldn't catch up.

"Taicho! Wait up!" I yelled but he didn't hear me. He just sped up.

XxXxX

I arrived at the west side of town; Matsumoto soon after.

"Taicho, what's wrong?" She asked. I turned to face her.

"Do you not sense it?" I replied. Matsumoto gave me a look.

"There's nothing to sense…"

"That's the problem."

Then, as if the epiphany suddenly hit her, her eyes widened.

"Hikari!" She said.

"You look on that side, I'll look on this side."

"Yes sir."

We dispersed in a flash.

"Hikari…please be ok…" I thought.

A few minutes later, I arrived at a park. I noticed that there weren't many people. I looked around. I didn't see anyone until I saw a tip of a zanpakuto sheath. My eyes widened and I dashed to the area. I stopped in my place. On the ground, I saw Hikari, pale and blank.

"Hikari!" I yelled. I dropped to my knees and felt her pulse. I waited for a moment, tension high. I had mixed amount of emotions throughout that entire moment. Surprise, anger, misery, etc. First Aizen with Hinamori and now….An arrancar with Hikari. I couldn't protect my two best friends. If I can't even protect those two…then there's no way I can protect anyone else. For the first time since becoming a captain, I felt a small tear trickle down my cheek. H*ll, now was watching. Matsumoto wasn't here to see this. I would have cried when I saw Hinamori in her "death" state after Aizen had stabbed her but a shinigami doesn't cry in front of their enemies…But this was different. Even if this was one small tear, it held all the pain, sorrow, and worry as it fell down my face.

"Please….be ok…" I whispered as the tear touched Hikari's pale cheek.

* * *

Note: I'm going to upload an "Omake" after this chapter. But this is a different "omake". My omakes are little fun things from the story. For instance, I'm going to add questions from reviewers like you, maybe add an extra character profile of my OC, etc. So please, nice reviewers, ask ANY questions that you have. I won't bite. ^^ But if you don't…then MAYBE I'll bite….JUST KIDDING! ^^ But seriously.


	18. True Feelings

Author's note: So, did you like the cliffhanger from the previous chapter? Huh? Huh? I tried really hard to make it suspenseful and such. ^_^ So do you think Hikari is dead? Is she in the same state as Hinamori? Who knows? ^_^ Only ME!

Remember: If you have any questions about the story so far, please ask them! I'll answer them on my "omake" or "overview." I just wanted you guys to understand that. xD

Oh, and obviously, this chapter is shorter than the others....Well, i was really lazy when i was typing this chapter and I was watching The Last Samurai (with Tom Cruise!). That movie was giving me so much inspiration...but not for this chapter. xD Actually, i'm making a mini parody of this story and it'll be based off The Last Samurai. It'll be called "The Last Shinigami." Yeah...it's not really original. Shut up. xD

Anyways, i hope you guys enjoy Chapter 18. ^_^ R&R please!

Chapter 18: True feelings

"Taicho! Are you ok?!" I heard Matsumoto coming towards me. I made sure there were no tears and stood up.

"Get a 4th squad personal. Quickly!" I ordered. When Matsumoto saw Hikari, she gasped.

"Hika-"

"Mastumoto!"

She was taken aback by my sudden anger, but she quickly regained composure and quickly grabbed her phone.

"Lieutenant of Squad 10 requests a squad 4 healer immediately." Matsumoto asked through the phone. There was a brief silence before she started again. "Yes sir….Let me check."

Matsumoto turned to face me.

"Taicho, they're asking if you need-"

"Get Unohana-taicho or Lieutenant Isane."

Matsumoto turned back to the phone and repeated what I asked for. There were a few "Yes sir" and "Yes ma'am" until the Senkon gate opened. We turned to see Unohana-taicho walk out of the gate. I stood up as Unohana looked at Hikari.

"Can you explain what just happened?" Unohana asked. I shook my head.

"No ma'am. I just arrived and saw her in this state." I replied. Unohana nodded. Suddenly, two squad 4 healers came in with a stretcher. They gently laid Hikari onto the stretcher and carried her into the senkon gate.

"Will she be alright, Unohana-taicho?" Matsumoto asked.

"Honestly, Lieutenant Matsumoto, just by looking at her at first glance…she may be in the same situation as Lieutenant Hinamori." She turned to face the Senkon gate. "Or worse."

When Unohana walked through the Senkon Gate, there was a horrible silence that came afterwards. I heard choking sobs from Matsumoto. I turned to face her and asked her to return back to Inoue's house.

"But what if hollows appear?" She asked.

"It's fine."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll return in a while."

"Should I tell Ikkaku and Yumichika?"

"Yes."

Matsumoto nodded and disappeared. I would have followed her but there was something that made me stay. The blood was still there and the sight of it made me feel sick inside; I knew why.

Not only could I not protect Hinamori…but I couldn't protect Hikari.

"I'm sorry…Hikari." I murmured.

XxXxX

I heard voices. Some sounded familiar, some sounded strange. My entire body felt numb. Was I dead?

I opened my eyes and there was a bright light. Maybe I was dead. It was when my vision cleared that I knew that I was still alive. When the blur went away, I saw that I was in a room: a hospital room. I jolted up from the bed but I felt a surge of pain flow through my body that I had to lay back down. Lieutenant Isane quickly came inside.

"Please, don't be too hasty to wake up." Isane touched my arm. "You're in safe hands."

"I'm alive?" I asked. Isane smiled.

"Yes, you are. Taicho was able to fix your wound. Actually, we had to put you in the ER."

I blinked with surprise. "For real?"

"Indeed. So please be calm. We don't want your wounds to re-open."

I nodded and raised my hand to look at my palm. "Where's my taicho?"

"Hitsugaya-taicho? He's still in the maternal world." Isane frowned. "Would you like me to call him?"

I shook my head and continued to look at my palm. After a brief silence, Insane made sure that I was ok and left. When I was finally alone, I sat up and looked out the window. I began to think about Hitsugaya-kun. I wonder if I caused him worry. I felt horrible about myself. He wanted to protect me after what happened to Hinamori-chan and he probably feels like he failed. I felt like crying, but I'm a shinigami…Shinigami never cry….What absolute bull. I felt a tear on my cheek. Why was I crying? I guess because I probably worsen Hitsugaya's emotions and I probably not only worried him, but I worried Matsumoto-san. What could I do? Nothing.

I heard small chuckling. "Look who's here."

My head turned and saw the Lieutenant of Squad 1, Kagawa Masahiko. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want, Kagawa?"

"Aw, what's wrong Kaori? Are you not happy to see me?"

"Why would I like to see you?"

"Maybe cause you're my friend-"

"Will you shut up?"

"I suppose." He sat next to me. He smiled. "How ya feeling?"

"Ok, I suppose. How's work in Squad 1?"

"Horrible. I have paper work 24/7 and all that…." He went silent for a bit. "Did you see Usagi-chan?"

I bit my lip. Kagawa was Akemi's boyfriend. Akemi used to tell me that she and him went to Academy together and became lieutenants. They had a strong love. I'm pretty sure when news that Akemi was killed, it must have hit hard on Kagawa. I didn't know what to say to him. Should I tell her that Akemi is no longer the girl you used to date? Should I tell him that she's a horrible arrancar? What should I say?

I suppose that Kagawa read my mind because I heard him sigh.

"I know she's an arrancar." He said bluntly. There was something off in his voice when he said it, though.

"Oh…well, I'm not sure really. In the beginning, she came to me and started to warn about the upcoming events. Then, another arrancar came and attacked me. I guess she had some relationship with Akemi because she arrived and took her away after Hitsugaya came and such."

Kagawa nodded. "Alright. Hey, let's try to be in a lighter mood of things. How's you and your new boyfriend?"

"And what's your purpose to want to know my personal relationships?"

"Hm, touché."

I smiled and lightly punched his arm. "We're fine."

"That's good to hear. Anyways, I better get back to work. I'll check on you tomorrow."

"Alrighty."

He got up and walked out of the room.

Now, click the pause button on that remote. You might be thinkin' "How the heck do you know this guy?" Well, it all starts on a warm, calm day in Shinigami Academy…

-flashback-

"I'm going to get you to meet a good friend of mine." Akemi-sama said. I cocked an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"You'll see." She stood up from the grass and walked into the trees. I waited a few moments until I saw Akemi come back with a young person, about the same age as Akemi-sama, with pretty blond hair and sky blue eyes. He wore a lieutenant badge on his right thigh. The normal sleeves on his uniform were torn off and wore a white cover-up.

"Meet Lieutenant of Squad 1, Kagawa Masahiko."

"L-L-Lieutenant of Squad 1?!" I exclaimed. Lieutenant Kagawa laughed and shook my hair.

"Usagi told me a lot about ya. I heard you got talent. You don't need to be all formal around me unlike this person-"

Akemi-sama slapped the back of his head. "Shut up, will ya? I'm trying to set a good example to this kid."

"You? Set a good example? That can kiss my a**-"

Another slap across the back of his head. Lieutenant Kagawa rubbed his head and grunted. Akemi-sama pouted and then turned to me with a smile.

"Anyways…." She said. "He's on a break right now so I decided to use that moment for you two to meet."

I nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Kagawa, sir."

"What did I tell ya, kid? Don't be all formal around me, geez…" He murmured. Akemi-sama laughed.

"You remind me of Lieutenant Kaien…." She drifted off and Lieutenant Kagawa's eyes went dark. I didn't know who this Lieutenant Kaien was until after I graduated and learned from Rukia. Akemi-sama let out a sigh and smiled again, though I could tell it was a fake smile. I gave her a reassuring smile and turned to Lieutenant Kagawa.

"Well, my name is Kaori Hikari." I said with a smile.

"Hikari, huh?" He smirked. "Good name. Good name. I see some talent in ya, kido." Then he leaned in. "But be careful around Usagi. She got a crazy temper and-"

There was a whack on the back of his head again and he was on the ground, gripping the back on his head.

"Watch what you say, idiot." Akemi-sama said angrily. Lieutenant Kagawa slowly turned his head to face me and he mouthed "I told you so."

I laughed and helped him up. "Will I be seeing you more often, Lieutenant?"

He straightened and shook his head. "Probably not. Got a sh*t load of work. It sucks being Lieutenant of Squad 1. Oh well. But hey, I'll do my best to visit and when you join the Gotei 13, then I'll probably see you more often. Speaking of which, I got to go. Captain-Commander is going to burn my a** if I don't come back!"

"I'd like for him to do that." Akemi-sama murmured and Lieutenant Kagawa turned to her with a look. Akemi-sama shrugged it off as he left.

From that moment on, I saw Lieutenant Kagawa at least once a week. It was great when he arrived. Even Akemi-sama felt calmer around him, even though she got angry at him when he was around. It was about a month later that I learned that the two started dating. It was very cute! I started to call him Kagawa since he never cared much about formality. He also started to call me Kaori instead of kid. After Akemi and Kagawa started dating, I saw him 2 or 3 times a week. But after Akemi died, I didn't see much of Kagawa. I saw him when I walked around Seireitei, but he would be under a tree, staring at the clouds. I felt bad for him. I wanted to comfort him. But nothing can heal the pain when someone you care so much about disappears from your world forever.

-End of flashback-

Now that Akemi is supposedly alive, I saw more of Kagawa. The only difference was that his warm, kind eyes I saw before were darker; As if he was still in doubt or in thought about Akemi. Yet, this time, his eyes returned to those old warm eyes I was so familiar with. Maybe he was doing it for me, like he didn't want me to worry. I sighed. I bet I worried him after the attack. Great, just great. Another person I worried for my stupid actions. Sh*t. And they both have their own things to worry about. I'm an idiot….


	19. Quick Update

Update…

Hi guys. I know Ice and Fire Collide has had some…..very small updates lately. Well, lucky for you guys because summer is only two days away (for me) so I'll be updating more often, hopefully. xD

Now, pushing that aside…As I have said in previous chapters, I was busy writing the omake: "The Last Shinigami." Well, it's done….1/3 of it at least. I couldn't finish it completely so I just split the omake into 3 parts. Part 1 is uploaded. ^^ So please do read it when you get the chance.

Next on my list is the overview thingy. You guys didn't ask ANY questions so I assumed you guys totally UNDERSTAND the story so far. O.O So, no overview crap. xD

I have also uploaded a new Bleach story in case you bleach fans are interesting. It's an IchiRukiRen story (but will end up being Ichiruki in case you're wondering) and it does have some hitsuhina scenes. That story is what I'm currently trying to update the most since, well, it's a new story and I would like to put it up to 10 chapters until I get lazy with it and just leave it for a while. xD So, if you're bored and waiting for me to update, please read my new IchiRukiRen fanfic .: Under The Stars :. !

Chapter 19 will be uploaded sometime within this week if not today. ^^;;

Lastly, sorry for any grammar problems in the previous chapters….I'm not a very good "grammar" person nor do I re-read my work when I finish a chapter. Dx So, that's why there's an awkward amount of grammar mistakes.

Anyways, that's it…Please don't be mad at me for slow updates….I still enjoy reading your reviews and messages but school is driving me bananas but once summer starts, I'll update a little faster….(cough, cough, A LITTLE faster, cough, cough).

-Katonge2/Blaze


	20. You and Me

Author's note: Hey guys! Again, this is your awesome author who has a very slow updates! ^^ Please don't kill me *hides in a corner*. So, I'm getting really ticked off with that FMA oneshot that I wanted to publish. It's just giving me agitations. In other words, the results of all this will be me putting that on either hiatus or giving up on that oneshot all together. If you want me to make the oneshot, please tell me! ^^ Thanks guys!

Now lets' get on with the chapter! ^^ Hikari is being a pessimist and little Shiro is getting worried over her. Aw, how cute…..! Ok, you're probably annoyed of me so lets' get on with the chapter!

Chapter 19: You and Me

I was finally able to get out of that confined Squad 4 hospital. I've been in there way too many times. It's like I'm a hospital magnet. How would you like going to a hospital every month, even if you're not technically sick? Yeah, it would be annoying.

"I thought I'd NEVER get out of there!" I said as I stretched. It was a nice, November day.

"Kaori-chan!" I heard a loud, girly, high pitched scream. I froze and turned my head. My reaction was late and I was super glomped by the lieutenant of Squad 11, Yachiru.

"Lieutenant Y-Yachiru…what the….." For a little midget, she has an insane glomp. Maybe she got a good amount of speed.

"Kaori-chan, this is your third time being in the hospital!"

"No…it was my second. Um…how do you know me, Lieutenant Yachiru?"

The little, pink haired lieutenant got off me. "Everyone in the Gotei 13 knows about you, Kaori-chan!"

"Wha…? I've only been in the Gotei 13 for like….a few months."

"Matsumoto tells all the lieutenants about you and your adventures!"

"……" There are times when you wonder if Rangiku is on your side or on their side.

"Hm…I wonder what I should nickname you…."

"I'd rather not have a nickname, Yachiru."

"But it'll be fun!"

"Um…no thanks."

"Kill joy." Then, Yachiru had an idea. "That's your nickname! Kill Joy!"

"WHAT? I am not a kill joy!"

"Yeah you are!"

"Hm…the only reason why I'm a kill joy is because I didn't want you to give me a nickname. Well, if you give me a nickname, then I'm NOT a kill joy."

"…….."

"Do you see my logic there, Yachiru?"

"No. BYE BYE KILL JOY!" She ran away, leaving me to have a strong anxiety to snap that girl's head off.

"I always wonder how she's a lieutenant…of Squad 11…." I shook the thought away. There was something that I had to do before anything else.

XxXxXx

"Kaori?"

"What's up, Kagawa?" I walked up to his desk. "I need to go back to the Human World."

"You just got out of the hospital. Are you sure it's safe for you to go out onto the field?"

"I'm the third seat of Squad 10. I'm pretty sure that I can easily go onto the field and not get hurt or whatever."

"Well, let me see…I'm a lieutenant and you're a third seat. I don't even have to go to Captain-Commander to ask if you should go to the human world."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm sayin' that you can't go to the human world. Captain-Commander would say the same thing too!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Then go and tell him that I want to resume my mission."

"Alright then."

He got up from his chair and walked to the Captain Commander's office. I sat down on his chair and waited. I mean, there's no problem with me kicking my feet on his desk and chillin' right?

In a few minutes, Masahiko came out with an "I can't believe it" look. I had a smirk on my face as I turned to look at him.

"So, how did it go, Kagawa?"

"…..Get off my desk, Kaori."

"Not until you tell me what Captain-Commander said. Tell me that I was so right."

"Ugh, fine. You can go to the human world."

"HA! WHAT DID I TELL YOU, KAGAWA?"

"Shut up."

I stuck my tongue out, jumped over his desk, and ran out of the Squad One admin office. See how totally awesome I am?

XxXxXx

Matsumoto was having a party with Madarame and Ayasegawa and I was working on some paperwork that the Gotei 13 gave me until I heard my phone ring. It was from the Lieutenant of Squad 1, Kagawa Masahiko. What does he want? I answered it.

"What is it, Lieutenant Kagawa?"

"If you don't mind me asking…Isn't your third seat named Kaori Hikari?"

"Yes and why do you need to know?"

"Um…Well, she's coming back to the human world."

"Is she in good condition to come here?" I suddenly had worry all over my face.

"Apparently, er, she claims she is."

"If Captain-Commander says she can return, then I have nothing to say."

I didn't like the sound of the news though. I saw how badly her wound was. It's impossible for her to come….

Suddenly, the senkai gate appeared. I didn't want to know who was coming….Unfortunately, I heard the voice of the girl that brought me both entertainment….and troublesome issues.

"SHIRO-CHAN!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, HIKA-"

I felt her weight on me in a quick second.

"I really missed you! Geez, the hospital is no place for me!"

"Get off of me, Hikari!"

"Oh, don't be such a mood killer, Shiro!"

"Don't call me Shiro!"

"But I haven't seen you in so looooooong!"

"It's only been a week."

"BUT IT FELT LIKE A MONTH!"

I kicked the girl off and she started to laugh. Then, I realized something. Hikari, even with the craziness going on around her, she's happier than ever... But I couldn't help but wonder why she has such a change of mood. Knowing her, she would be in a horrible mood. Then again, she is a really strange person.

Suddenly, the door opened and Matsumoto dashed in, her face bright.

"Hikari! I felt your reitsu when I was walking back here! Oh my gosh! You look so healthy!"

Hikari jumped on Matsumoto, actually giving her a hug. "I missed you so much, Matsumoto! You wouldn't BELIEVE what I had experienced in that stupid pansy hospital!"

"Hey, did you know…"

The two started chit chatting and going into their own world. I stared at Hikari and not only realized that she was happier, but I realized that I actually did miss her. I was worried, but to see her with a new face of optimism made me think differently. I couldn't help but smile with her.

"I missed you, too…Hikari." I murmured. "This time, I won't let anything bad happen to you. It'll be just you and me, no matter what."

XxXxXx

"Is something wrong, Akemi-sama?" Lita asked.

"No, it is nothing." I replied.

I was not happy with Lita almost killing Hikari. I didn't want to tell her that for the most obvious reason…

-Flashback-

"Akemi-sama! Akemi-sama!" I saw Lita running towards me with an energetic vibe. Something good must have happened…I turned to face the window.

"Did you finish the mission so soon?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"So how did it go?"

"I killed her, Akemi-sama! I killed the blasted Kaori Hikari!"

My eyes widened. She did what? I stayed silent and I could feel Lita's energetic vibe begin to disappear.

"Akemi-sama…? Did I do something wrong?"

I shook my head. "I'm fine, Lita. You did a good job."

Her vibe returned and after I got my face neutral, I turned to face her. She was kneeling, her head down.

"Thank you, Akemi-sama! I'm glad that I didn't let you down."

I wanted to tell her the truth; I wanted to tell her that she was a fool and deserved to die for Hikari's sake. But seeing her so happy…I couldn't tell her.

-end of flashback-

But after she had left, I knew that she was alive. Hikari was alive…But now, I realized that by this time, she must want to return back to the human world, ready to fight. If she comes back, she'll want to fight. If she fights, there is a high percentage that she will die….

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." I called as Lita got up. Then, Ichimaru appeared.

"Usagi, there's a meetin' and Aizen-taicho needs ya."

"So be it."

I walked out the door.

XxXxX

"Sorry, Lil' Lita. Aizen-taicho don't want you to be here." Ichimaru told me. I was surprised.

"W-Why can't I be with Akemi-sama?" I asked.

Ichimaru shrugged and walked off, shutting the door behind him.

XxXxX

As I walked towards Aizen's meeting room, some of the other espadas were there.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Aizen-sama is making a new arrancar."

"Aw, how boring." I sat next to Tia and watched as Aizen walked towards the hogyoku. Aizen took the orb and slightly unlocked its power. In a flash, a new arrancar was born.

"Welcome, brother." Aizen said. "Tell your brothers and sisters your name."

"Wonderwise…."

Well that's a strange name…

Afterwards, Wonderwise was given a set of clothes and he left with Tousen. When the newbie was gone, we all stood up and began to leave.

"Usagi, I'd like to talk to you for a minute." I heard Aizen say before I could leave the room.

"Crap…" I thought, stopped in my tracks, and turned, plastering my neutral face. "Yes sir?"

"Why did you send your fraccion to the human world?"

"No reason, sir."

"I know you well enough that you wouldn't just send your subordinates for no reason."

A scary silent filled the room. Aizen smirked.

"Is it because of that shinigami girl?"

At that moment, I knew what my lie would be. I stared at Aizen.

"Because she knows valuable information about the invasion, I found her as a threat. So I took quick and supposedly subtle action, via bring my fraccion to the real world to eliminate the threat."

"Now how could she know this valuable information? I certainly didn't tell her."

"Her captain probably told her."

Another, but not as scary, silence filled the air. Aizen's smirk faded.

"I see. So I guess my assumptions are wrong." He responded and started walked towards the door.

"_Assumptions my a**."_ I thought.

"But remember your place….Squad 2 lieutenant."

"I'm not part of the Gotei 13 anymore."

XxXxXx

I was right outside the door. Akemi-sama….was part of the Gotei 13? I was walking towards the room since I saw all the other espadas going to their rooms and I didn't see Akemi-sama. So, I went to find her. Aizen-sama saw me and started to say "But remember your place…Squad 2 lieutenant." I saw Aizen-sama smirk.

"Tell that to your fraccion, Usagi." He said and walked away. I took a deep breath and walked to the door entry. She was facing me, her eyes widened. It was like her mask was broken and I saw a new figure in front of me. I was taught that all the espada and arrancar here used to be hollows. She was a SHINIGAMI, our mortal enemy but turned into an espada. I felt hurt inside but at the same time, everything started to come together. She was always so quiet when I asked her certain questions and unlike most arrancars, she doesn't show her hollow hole. Then again, Harribel doesn't show her hollow hole…hm….

"How much do you know?" She asked. I looked down.

"Enough to know that you're a shinigami."

"WAS a shinigami. I'm an espada now."

"But…all espadas and other arrancars were formerly hollows. You….you were a shinigami. Moreover, you shouldn't even BE in Hueco Mundo! I-It's impossible for you to be here!" I took out my zanpakuto. "Bleed…Shirohime!"

Note: I see that I didn't add Wonderwise's last name. I find it not relevant. xD Sorry for extremely short chapter! :O :O If you want to kill me….then go right ahead. TT_TT


	21. Trust

Author's note: Alright guys! Chapter 20! :D Yaaay! What's going to happen to Akemi now that Lita knows she was a shinigami?

Oh, and before I forget, thanks to everyone who's been actually reading my story! :) Those who have been sticking to the story I give my thanks. You guys make writing this story worthwhile.

Chapter 20: Trust

My blood ran cold. Lita pointed her blade towards me.

"Bleed, Shirohime." A blast of increased spiritual pressure appeared afterwards as she activated her resurreccion. Her green hair turned white with a long red streak going down the side of her hair. It was as if her body was turning into ice yet it was still able to move. Once the dust subsided, she stared at me with blank eyes, her zanpakuto nowhere in sight. Then, she slowly moved her hand and pointed at me. Suddenly, ice started to come from the frozen platform and, like projectiles, was launched towards me. I quickly dodged each of the projectiles with ease.

"Lita, I command you to stop this!" I yelled. "I won't fight you!"

She didn't listen but instead continued aiming projectiles at me. Well, it's her fault.

I quickly unsheathed my zanpakuto.

"Blind, Reimeiokami!" I commanded. My blade turned dark blue as the entire area around us turned pitch dark. The hollow mask fragments soon formed the entire mask around my face, the only thing that was able to be shown was my glowing eyes. You could say that because I was formerly a shinigami before I became an espada, I didn't have a resurreccion. Heavens knows why, though. Aizen should have given that attribute to me during the moment I became an arrancar….nevertheless, it didn't matter at the moment. Lita looked around.

"How unpleasant…You're simply making this into a light vs dark battle…We both know who will win." Lita said for the first time she activated her resurreccion.

"Oh, we shall see." I responded and pointed my zanpakuto towards her. "Endoresu Yami (Endless Darkness)."

The dark area soon shrunk around Lita, forming a huge ball all around her. I saw her trying to throw projectiles to break the ball, but to no avail.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way, my fraccion." I said as I pointed my blade upwards. "Sen sasa re (a thousand bites)."

I heard the sounds of various blades hitting their target in a point blank range. There was a silence…

I put my hand to my mask and removed it while sheathing my zanpakuto. The dark ball soon disappeared and Lita, who was no longer in her resurreccion, fell to the floor, bleeding almost everywhere accept for the head and her chest. I walked towards her, showing my neutral face.

"It's up to you whether you want to tell everyone here and if you want to continue being my fraccion. But now you know my power, and I know yours."

Then, I turned to leave. Once I was at the door, I stopped and turned my head. Lita was slowly getting up and soon, she was in a position where she was kneeling.

"I am….sorry for attacking you…..as I did…Akemi-sama…please forgive me….."

I sighed. "No. I am the one who should be asking you to forgive me. I should have told you sooner." I walked up to her and gave her my hand. "Can you stand?"

She gave a small nod and slowly started to stand.

"We need to take you to the nurse, immediately."

As we left the room, I knew that I had to be more cautious. Though I trusted Lita, I could feel the tension around her and I wondered if she still had the same trust that I had towards her.

Once I dropped off Lita at the nurse, I noticed Grimmjow stalking off somewhere.

"You seem crankier than usual." I said as I stared at Grimmjow's lost arm.

"You know d*nm right why I'm f*cking cranky, Usagi."

I smirked. "Ok, ok. By the way, what's going on?"

"Yammy, the new arrancar, Luppi, and I are going to the human world next week."

"I see…."

He had a smug on his face. "I can pay a special visit to your little shinigami disciple for ya…"

I glared at him. "She's nothing, Grimmjow."

"Really? Then what if I do you and your pathetic fraccion a favor by killing that stupid shinigami when I get there this week."

"She didn't do anything…" Then it was my turn to have a smug. "Besides, the one you should be more attentive to is Kurosaki Ichigo."

He frowned, turned away, and began to walk off. "You got that right, b*tch."

Once he was gone, I rubbed my temples. That idiot….As I walked back to my room, I looked out the window that faced the desolate landscape that is called Hueco Mundo. In just one week, they'll be in human world…but what's Aizen motive? I cursed under my breath and continued walking.

XxXxXxX

It was a calm early afternoon. Hitsugaya, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Matsumoto, and I were relaxing in the park, simply talking to our zanpakuto.

"Che, we haven't had some action in a week." Yasusuzume said with disgust. I mentally grunted.

"Look, we'll get some action at one point or another."

"Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t! You stupid piece of sh*t!" I heard Yumichika yell as he started 'slicing' the rock.

"Wow, I never knew you could use the s world 4 times in one sentence." I mumbled.

"Heh, you've never done that before, Hikari?" Ikkaku asked, opening one eye to look at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Hmph, I have…"

Ikkaku just smirked and closed his eyes in concentration. Unfortunately, it didn't last long when Rangiku and Yumichika started arguing and fighting.

"WILL BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP? IF YOU DON'T QUIET DOWN OVER THERE, I'M SENDING BOTH OF YOU TO SEIREITEI!" Hitsugaya yelled. When it semi-quieted down, he sighed. "Can't they talk to their zanpakutos without having to get into a fight?"

I shrugged. "I guess their personalities are just getting in the way."

Then, Hitsugaya turned to Ikkaku. "Is something wrong, Madarame?"

He shook his head but looked at the sky. "It looks like the clouds are moving faster..."

Suddenly, we all felt a strong reitsu that made us look up. A garganta opened and there were 4 arrancars that looked down at us. That's when I noticed one of them in an instance. That blue haired espada….

Suddenly, the blue haired espada dashed off to a different direction. We quickly grabbed our soul candy and plopped it in our mouths. Before we took off, Hitsugaya put a hand on my shoulder.

"Will you be alright, Kaori?" He asked. I smiled reassuringly after activating my shikai.

"Of course."

He nodded and the two of us quickly jumped up to confront our nemesis.

"They couldn't be here early…" I thought. "Aizen would be with them if it had started early…"

Suddenly, the brute fight started. As Hitsugaya and I fought espada 10, Yammy, the others fought espada 6 Luppi and a new arrancar…

* * *

Sorry guys! I was really, really lazy with this chapter. I have a feeling it sucks but I've been going through authors block for this chapter even though I'm following the plot line. Sigh…How sad. Er, anyways, I believe my story will have an alternate ending because I plan to finish the story on chapter 30 plus an epilogue. Hehe, I already have the epic ending in my head and it's so awesome! xD So, Ice and Fire Collide is ending pretty soon! :O Well, please review! Thanks


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